Setting Forth the Truth

Calling God Allah?

2009-05-04T10:42:00.003+02:00

Is it OK to call God Allah as some missionaries in Muslim countries say is OK to do?

For me the matter is simple, however I will try to expand on it below. Sorry if things tun out to be a little long-winded, but I will try to be as brief as possible. I have included the references that I know to where things are found within the Qur'an.

In my mind there is no other way to look at this subject than as blasphemous, and is a transgression of the third commandment: "you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain", for one basic reason:
The concept of a name in the Bible is not just a title that you call someone so you know how to address them when you speak to them, but it incorporates the very character of that person and often includes details about the person with regard to their heritage, role or activities.

For example, Jacob means grabber of the heel, and he was called this because he was born grabbing the heel of his twin brother Esau who was born minutes before him. It also illustrates Jacob's character as throughout his life he was always trying to grab things instead of trusting God for them. Another meaning of the name, by implication, is deceiver. This is seen in the deceptive activities of Jacob in trying to grab things.

Jesus is another example, as in Hebrew the name Yeshua means God is salvation.

This concept however is not unique to the Bible, as it forms part of many of the cultures around that area for thousands of years. In fact, most of the Afrikaans surnames around today follow the same principle from the time of William of Orange who forced the Dutch to take on surnames. Many were chosen to illustrate the origin or occupation of the person (e.g. de Klerk – the clerk).

Therefore, when you are referring to God by a name, you are not just giving Him a tittle of reference, you are also referring to His character. As a result, if you are going to call God Allah, then you are actually saying that God has the character of Allah. The same would apply if you were calling Him Krishna or one of the many other names given to the gods of the many religions around the world.

If then you are referring to the character of Allah when you call God Allah, what then is that character? What does Allah represent?

I am going to answer that question by looking at a few teachings of Islam.

Atonement
According to Christianity, and Old Testament Judaism, in the atoning act of God, a substitute was to be sacrificed for the repenting sinner. This substitute was then accepted by God instead of the offender and the punishment was executed on the substitute. This we know to be Jesus.

However, the Muslims reason that this would be unjust of Allah to punish an innocent person for the offences of the guilty. The just should be rewarded with goodness, and the guilty would be punished with tribulation. Jesus, the just, therefore could not really suffer for the unjust, for this would be offensive to Allah's concept of righteousness and justice.

This is nullifying the whole atoning work of God. It is also making Him out to be a liar and that His promises and fulfilment of those promises contained in the Bible are false.

Son of God
According to the teachings of Islam, “God neither begets nor is begotten” (Sura 112:3) therefore Jesus could not have been God's Son. Therefore, Jesus was not in anyway God. In fact they teach that Jesus was just a great prophet like Abraham, Moses and Mohammed (Sura 5:73-75).

This is a clear denial of the teachings of Christ's divinity contained within the Bible.

Trinity
According to Islam, the Christian trinity is God, Jesus and Mary, not the Holy Spirit. They also say that we are worshipping three gods and not one (Sura 5:73-75). Granted, the word Trinity is a theological term and is not directly mentioned within the Bible, however it is implied in many passages throughout Scripture, from Genesis 1 right through to Revelation 22.

The Trinity is a vital doctrine of the Christian faith and to deny it is to deny the very character of God as revealed in His Word.

The Crucifixion
This is the most vital issue in the Christian-Islamic controversy. For the Christian, there is no possible compromise. Neither is it possible on the side of the Muslims. They are taught within the Qur'an that Jesus was not crucified. It was the plan of Jesus’ enemies to crucify Him, but Allah saved Him and raised Him up to him. A likeness of Jesus was put over another man whom Jesus’ enemies took and crucified, thinking that he was Jesus (Sura 4:157).

This is in clear contrast to the teaching of the Gospel message and is very similar to the Gnostic teachings prevalent during the first few centuries of the church.

“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”
Muslims deny this teaching of Jesus. They claim that He was only talking to the Jews during that time period and that for them it may be true, but not for those since or those outside of Israel and Judaism. This then opens to door for someone else to step in and claim to be the way for the Gentile nations. In the Muslim's mind, Mohammed and his teachings contained within the Qur'an is the only way to get to Allah.

This is in clear contrast to the teachings contained within the Bible.

Judgement Day
According to the Qur'an those who die while believing that “There is no true god but Allah, and Muhammad is his Messenger” and are Muslim will be rewarded on that day and will be admitted to Paradise forever (Sura 2:82). But those who die while not believing this or are not Muslim will lose Paradise forever and will be sent to Hellfire (Sura 3:85,91). Basically, Allah does not accept adherence to any religion other than Islam.

This is clearly a contradiction of the teachings of the Bible.

The Bible
Muslims believe that the Bible we have today is not the true Word of God because it is not the original scriptures that were revealed by God. It underwent alterations, additions, and omissions. However, the Qur'an is the final revealed word of God and has not been changed since it was written 14 centuries ago.

As Christians we believe that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God, and that all revelation ended with the closing of the canon. The Qur'an came centuries later and therefore falls outside of this time frame.

It is also interesting to note that Muslims reject that God rested on the seventh day. Again making God and His Word out to be a liar.

Conclusion
Do any of these things sound at all anything like the God of the Bible? Why then would we call God Allah when the attributes of Allah stand in stark contrast to the God of the Bible? To do so would be blasphemous and would be taking the name of God in vain, a clear transgression of the third commandment.

One may argue, as it seems from the articles and other sources that I have read, that language is merely a way of communicating and it does not matter what one calls God, it is merely a title that we humans have placed on Him. But what I said earlier about what a name represents cancels out this argument.

It sounds ludicrous, but we might as well just call God Spoon if words or names do not matter. The very idea of calling God Spoon certainly would not be accepted because God is not a spoon. He does not look like one, He does not function like one, and He is not lifeless like one. So why would we call Him Spoon. Using the same argument, God is nothing like Allah, so then why would we call Him Allah?

Also to say what some others have said that Paul used a similar method in Acts 17 is taking the whole Biblical narrative out of context. The word used there for the “unknown god” is not a name of a god, but rather the general word used for a god, theos. This is the same as us using god with a small first letter (like referring to money as a god). Paul was in no way using the name Zeus or Apollo to name God in this context. The name Allah is a name within itself and is not a general term meaning a god. So this argument falls short.

In conclusion therefore, if you are going to call God Allah, then you are assigning a character to Him that is not what is revealed to us in Scripture, but rather what is contained within the Qur'an. Just as in the same way if you were to call Him Krishna, you are assigning attributes to Him that are contained within the Baghavad Gita. This is blasphemous. We can only call Him by a name that is in line with what He has revealed about Himself within the Word of God.

There are churches in Indonesia that use the name Allah during communion. If you think about it, this in itself is blasphemous towards the Muslims too as they teach that Allah did not come to earth and die for them.

The whole idea of calling God Allah was originally started by a retired Dutch Roman Catholic priest who was a missionary in Indonesia. The Catholic church as you know is one of the forerunners in the ecumenical movement which is trying to unite all the world religions together.

I believe that if we go the route of calling God Allah, then we are doing exactly what the Muslims and the devil want, and that is to submit to the spirit of the world that is at work trying to separate man from the one true God. In fact, the word Islam itself means submit.

I know that this issue is a sensitive one, however I believe that there is a principle at work here that is not of God. The devil wants people to worship anyone but the God of the Bible and if he can convince people to do so, he has already had a victory within the battle.

Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW

Session 7: Knowing God - The Interpretation of the Bible

2009-02-21T09:20:00.000+02:00

One of the issues that people seem to grapple with when it comes to looking at the doctrine of the Bible is that of how do we interpret it? Are we meant to take things literally, or are we to merely draw out the concepts or principles and apply them to our lives? Or is there another way to go about it?

This is an issue that needs to be addressed before one can move forward in looking at the other doctrines contained in the Bible, for example God and Jesus. However, it is an issue that is not often covered in many general theological text books and is often left to specialised text books that deal with hermeneutics or homiletics.

However, if one is going to arrive at the correct message of the Bible, one must use a method or system of study. Without one it is easy to end up with puzzling and chaotic application of the Bible. Those who reject a methodic study of God's Word either has ulterior motives, or has been duped into thinking that he can find the truth without it.

Reasons why People Prefer Not to Have a Method
Fear of the truth
People are afraid of what the Bible may expose about their lives, their teaching and their practice.

Extra Knowledge
Some people think that they have a special enlightenment that somehow overrides the Bible and its message.

Unintelligible
Some think that the Bible is not meant to be understood in the same way we understand other books. They hold to the idea that it is a mystical book and therefore its teachings cannot be studied or understood like other writings and disciplines.

A Riddle
Some think that the Bible is some sort of riddle and that no one has the real meaning. They think that the Bible can mean different things at different times. They subscribe to the idea that one meaning is as good a another.

A Box of Chocolates
Some people think that the Bible is like a box of chocolates where one can go to the Bible and just pick out what one likes and leave what they do not like.

The Need for a Method
There are four basic reasons why we need a method to study the Word:

The Bible contains a normal message and therefore needs to be interpreted in the same manner you would any other normal message.
The message is also written in normal everyday language. Language that needs to be properly understood before the message can be fully determined.
The proper message of the Bible needs to be sought out in order for their to be proper application.
There is original thought in the Bible – the thoughts of God. And as He is the same yesterday, today and forever, so His thoughts have remained the same.

Harmful Methods of Interpretation
The following methods have sustained those things known to be false and have made the Bible to either teach what we know to be untrue or contradicted itself.

Mystical Method
This is one of the oldest method in interpreting the Bible and originated in paganism. This idea began with the idea that only certain people were properly “in tune” with God and are able to derive the true meaning of the written words. The result is that it gives prominence to people of “higher calling”.

The main premise behind it is that the literal word has a mystical meaning and it is this mystical meaning that is the true interpretation. One is lead to believe that the literal word of the Bible is inferior, even useless or dangerous, and needs to be thrown away as unacceptable.

This method leaves us with the question: If the Bible does not mean what it says, then how do we know what it does mean?

Allegorical Method
In this method one treats the entire Bible as one big riddle. It promotes the idea that each person has the right to draw out of the texts the lesson he/she feels is true for them.
The danger here is that the reader does not draw the real meaning of the text out of it, but rather thrusts something into it.

Superstitious Method
This method is rich in emotion but poor in reason. Here the reader digs for all manner of hidden meanings by tirelessly examining thoughts, numbers, items, names, etc and combining them so that they form strange conclusions and odd arrangements. It gives more attention to the incidental details and actually confuses the orderly arrangements and divisions that are naturally found in the Bible.

Ecclesiastical or Hierarchical Method
This method holds to the idea that the church and its leadership is the only true exponent of the Scriptures. One who uses this method neither looks to God nor himself to understand the Bible, but rather to the church, the church's statement of faith, or to the priest. According to this method, what the church says stands.

Dogmatic Method
This method has its origin in the Catholic Church during the Dark Ages due to the church's desire to rule in spiritual matters.

This method assumes a certain thing is true then defends it by showing, from Scripture, “proof” that it is true. These “proofs” are generally called “proof-texts”. The obvious danger with this method is that we can prove almost anything to be correct.

What we need to remember however is that the Bible was not designed to be some sort of proof for the doctrines we formulate, but instead is to reveal the doctrines of God.

Rational Method (Modernism)
Rational refers to reason. This method exaggerates the position of reason by making it the supreme authority in all judgements instead of using it as a tool for understanding. It places human reason superior to anything that is revealed in the Bible. The result is an interpretation of Scripture that never violates human reason.

Only those things in Scripture that reason says are possible are accepted. Those things that do not seem reasonable, such as the virgin birth, the miracles of Jesus, the resurrection, are either considered mythical or discarded altogether.

Spiritual Interpretation Method
This method is similar to the Rational Method, differing only in its scope. Instead of reason being the basis, it is special enlightenment that tells us what we should be keeping and what needs to be discarded or ignored.

Apologetic Method
This method maintains that all statements in the Bible are absolutely perfect. It regards anything and everything that can be found in Scripture to be from God no matter who is speaking.

As we shall see later, this stands in opposition to one of the first rules of interpreting Scripture: to know who is speaking.

Literal Method
This method is a reaction to the rational method in that it makes all the language of the Bible literal. It forces the Bible to be literal even when it is obviously symbolic, as in many of the prophecies. It may also quote all passages with equal weight even putting a quotation of an uninspired man or the devil himself, on par with the words of an inspired man or God.

Inductive Method
Induction is to reason by noting particular facts and occurrences and from them drawing general conclusions. That is how the Inductive Method operates.

This method demands that all the facts be reported. By reporting all the facts and allowing them to speak for themselves, no error will be possible. No interpretation of any fact can be true if it does not harmonise with all the other known facts.

This is a method that is seen in Scripture. In Luke 24:13-35 we read of the men on their way to Emmaus discussing the death of Jesus and how they were saddened that He had not been the redeemer that they had hoped for. Then along comes Jesus.

In verses 25-27 we read, “He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” Note the bold text. This is exactly what the inductive method does. It presents all of the truths which leads to an interpretation.

Two truths are never contradictory. When any fact has come to be known, and about it there can be no doubt, whatever may be reported afterwards which contradicts that fact, is rejected as false.

Rules of Interpretation
There are sixteen basic rules we need to bear in mind when we come to interpreting Scripture.

1) Put aside any preconceived ideas or doctrines
So often our preconceived ideas or doctrines influence how we read Scripture. We need to put them aside and not allow them to influence us in any way as we seek to find understanding.

2) Every passage has but one meaning
There are a number of exceptions to this rule (e.g. prophecy, which has both an immediate meaning as well as a future one), however, none of the meanings may contradict another.

3) The simplest, most obvious meaning of any text is usually the correct one
One should look for the most natural interpretation of a text. If the text has more than one meaning, though not necessarily incorrect, the simplest one is probably the correct one.

4) Always allow the author's own explanation of a text to stand
There are a few instances in Scripture where the writer explains what they are saying in a later text. Other time Jesus himself explains the Old Testament texts. As the original authors of the text, they have the right to explain what they are saying. We as the readers have no right to add or change those meanings in any way.

5) Always interpret a passage in harmony with the context
This includes the text that immediately precedes and follows the text in question. It may be a paragraph, a chapter, a large section, the entire book, and even the entire Bible.

All of Scripture, from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 demonstrates a continuous, logical flow of thought, and a text should never be pulled out of this order and forced into the mould of some other thought. Often just an understanding of the context of the text gives a clear interpretation.

6) interpretation of the text should always conform to the environment of the writer
The writer, and God as the author, used the conditions of life at the time, and in the environment of the writing, to frame the revealed message. Customs of the day, opinions of the time, the circumstances of life, and the very personalities of the writers were all drawn upon to paint the picture.

7) Each passage must be interpreted in harmony with all other passages
No doctrine or interpretation can be true if it is opposed to any clear statement of the Word of God. When there seems to be a contradiction between the meanings of the passages, one or more of the interpretations must be incorrect and the passages need to be re-examined.

8) One passage will often explain another passage
Sometimes we come across an obscure passage that we cannot understand. These passages however can be understood when one looks at the meanings of other related passages. One needs to be cautious in this area so as not to force comparisons that are in no way related.

9) A passage must be interpreted in harmony with any idioms it contains
Sometimes we can read into words with twenty-first century understandings, when first century understandings are required. For example the text where Jesus talks about hating one's brother or mother can seem quite harsh if not the word hate is not understood as the first century idiom it is. In this case it means they are not loved as much as God is loved.

10) all passages on a given subject must be studied
No one should ever draw a general conclusion on any Bible subject until all the passages concerned have been fully studied and compared. It is only after all the relevant passages have been studied can one come to a full understanding of a subject.

11) Observe the proper balance of Scriptural truth
Some passages have been exaggerated or overemphasised, while others have been given very little attention or completely ignored. One must be sure to maintain the balance.

12) Let plain passages determine difficult passages
Some passages are difficult to understand. Always choose the meaning of an obscure or difficult passage that harmonises with the plainer or easier passages on the same subject.

13) Interpret a passage in its original setting
One must be very careful to keep a passage in the setting in which it was first given. It must be put in its rightful place according to the period of time and the covenant involved. One must take an historical approach to Bible study to be fully aware of the entire setting of a passage.

14) Rightly interpret the language
A good portion of the Bible is written in literal language. It is used to state facts, name people and places, relate incidents, issue commandments and warnings. Such things should be taken literally and one should not try to read into them for hidden meanings. A literal meaning is that meaning which is given it by those to who it is addressed.

Figurative language involves the use of symbols, stories or other descriptive means to express truth.

15) Know the meanings of words and sentences in their original setting
Modern usage of a word or sentence is meaningless. One must look at them strictly from the viewpoint of the writers, not only in the meanings of the words themselves, but also in terms of grammar and rhetoric.

16) Know the limit of divine revelation
God's revelation to man ended with the closing of the canon. There is no more new revelation, only illumination and understanding through the work of the Holy Spirit of the revelation already contained in Scripture.

Steps in Correctly Interpreting Scripture
There are five basic steps to interpreting and understanding a text.

Step 1: Original setting, audience, LANGUAGE and context
This step is the most crucial and will usually take the most amount of time to complete. This step must never be left out and forms the foundation for the steps that follow.
Some of the questions you need to ask yourself in this step include:

What is the historical setting of the text?
Who were the people that the text was written to?
What language was it written in?
Are there any figures of speech that have an understanding different to our own?
What is the context of the passages immediately before and after the text?
What is the context of the chapters/sections before and after the passages above?
What is the message of the book the text is found in?

Step 2: what is the theological principle/lesson of the text?
Based on the information gathered in Step 1, what is the meaning of the text to the original readers/hearers?

State this meaning in your own words in simple point form.

Step 3: Take it through the cross
How does our understanding of the cross, Jesus and the New Testament fulfil or explain the text we are looking at? For example, many of the Old Testament feasts and sacrifices were fulfilled by the work of Christ on the cross.

As a result, is the text we are dealing with prescriptive for our lives, or is it rather giving us a principle that needs to be carried through.

If the text you are dealing with is a New Testament passage, this step can sometimes be left out, however, as you proceed, keep the cross and Christ in mind so as not to come up with an interpretation that contradicts them. Even in New Testament passages, an understanding of the cross fully explains the meaning of another text.

Step 4: how is our life and setting different from the original audience?
If we are going to apply any Biblical text in the twenty-first century, we need to understand how we are different. It is pointless trying to literally apply a text to us that has no direct relevance today. The Old Testament sacrificial system is again an example of this.

Step 5: How do we apply the principles obtained in Step 2 today?
Taking all of the above into account, we are now in a position to apply the text to our own lives. If the text itself is not directly applicable, what is the principle we need to apply? If it is directly applicable, how?

Conclusion
The subject of interpretation is a vital one to consider when studying the Bible, however it is the starting point that will determine how you will proceed. If we believe God's Word to be fully inspired, without errors and as a direct result of His revelation to man, then how else can one interpret Scripture other than allowing it to speak to you directly as it is written.

By following the aforementioned rules and steps, one has a richer understanding of the text and one becomes certain in their own minds as to the truth of the Word, and is not easily swayed when faced with false or contradictory doctrines or interpretations.

This concludes our study of Bibliology – the Doctrine of the Bible.

Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW

Session 6: Knowing God – The Authority of the Bible

2009-02-14T10:07:00.003+02:00

Authority is one of the issues that is hotly debated in the post-modern age we are living in. Even within the Catholic Church there has been some questioning as to the authority of the papacy. In post-modern thinking, external authority is often refused recognition and one's own judgement has become the final authority in most matters. However, in Christianity this is an issue that needs to be recognised and dealt with and is based on what has already been discussed in previous sessions.

What is Authority?
The first thing that we need to define before moving forward is that of what is authority, and how does it pertain to us as Christians?

By authority we mean the right to command belief and/or actions.

But where does this authority lie? As Christians we believe in a supreme being called God who is higher than everything within the created world, therefore He has the right to determine what we believe and how to live. God has the right by virtue of who He is and what He has done to establish a standard of beliefs and practice.

But how is that authority displayed today? Is God still directly involved in exercising that authority in all areas of life? These and other questions will be answered as we proceed through this session.

The Holy Spirit
As we covered in session 4, revelation is God making His truths known to man that man would otherwise not have known if God had not revealed it.

Through our understanding of inspiration, we are guaranteed that what the Bible says is what God would say to us if we had to speak to Him face-to-face.

But so often there are things that we just do not seem to understand, and this is where the Holy Spirit comes in through illumination. It is the Holy Spirit's task to turn the light of our minds on as it were so that we can fully comprehend what the Bible is saying and to be fully convinced of its truth.

But why is the Holy Spirit needed? There are a number of reasons:

Ontological Differences
Note: Ontology is a philosophical term and is concerned with being as its subject matter.

There are ontological differences between God and man. God goes far beyond our understanding (See Isaiah 55:8-9). Our language and understandings are finite, while God's are infinite.

Why is it like this? It is not related to the fall, but is simply because of the Creator-creation relationship.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Certainty required
So many of the concepts in the Bible seem to defy logic of the human mind. For example, how could Paul have had joy in his heart when he was undergoing severe physical anguish and persecution. It defies all human logic.

It is only with the assistance of the Holy Spirit that this can happen. Through the certainty that the Holy Spirit provides we are able to believe that God exists and that His Word is true. This gives us the faith necessary to hold onto certain beliefs.

Our Limitations
In Matthew 13:13-15 and Mark 8:18 Jesus addresses those who hear but do not understand and who see but do not perceive. Their ears and eyes are closed to the truths of God's Word.

Paul later attributes this situation to God in Romans 11:8-10.

All of these verses, and many others, show the need for some illumination by an outside source, a source that can only come from the one who is the originator of the Truth.

“This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.” (Matthew 13:13-14)

“Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember?” (Mark 8:18)

“as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.” And David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.”” (Romans 11:8-10)

The Unregenerate
In 1 Corinthians 2:14 we read that the unregenerate person has not yet received the gifts of the Spirit. There is an interesting word in this verse, dechomai, which is translated as receive or accept. Accept is the closer meaning in that it signifies that the person has welcomed it. One can receive something without actually accepting it.

Therefore, Paul is telling us that the unregenerate do not accept the gift of the Spirit, therefore the things of God are foolishness to them. The truth of the Word is not understood by them because it is something that needs to be spiritually discerned.

Other verse in 1 Corinthians that add to this are: 1:20-21; 2:11,13 and 3:19.

“The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14)

Without the help of the holy Spirit, it is therefore impossible to understand the things of God.

Regeneration
This understanding is overcome by the Holy Spirit beginning His work in us. Paul talks about this in a number of places in his epistles (see Romans 2:29; 1 Corinthians 1:18,23,24; 2:7,14,16; 2 Corinthians 3; Ephesians 1:18 and Colossians 1:9).

What is described in all of these verses is a one-time regeneration of the unbeliever and draws the line between a believer and an unbeliever.

This work however does not end there. As Jesus tells us in John 14-16, the work continues.

The Holy Spirit will:

teach believers all things and bring a remembrance of all the things Jesus taught,
witness to Jesus,
convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgement,
guide believers into all truth,
will glorify Jesus, and
will not speak on His own authority, but will speak whatever He hears from the Father.

Therefore, what is the ministry of the Holy Spirit in relation to the Word? It simply is to clarify the truth, bringing belief and persuasion and conviction, but not new revelation.

Model of Authority
This, along with what has already been covered in previous sessions, gives us a model to work from in terms of authority for the Christian.

The objective Word, the written, fully inspired, inerrant Word of God, together with the subjective, inner illumination and conviction of the Holy Spirit, provides the authority for the Christian.

The Reformed church and many that hold to that theology, maintain that the authority lies in the Bible alone.

However, in the post-modern world, particularly within the charismatic arena, many teach that there are new revelations and messages that God is sending and more seems to rely on the subjective side of authority. The result of this is a theology that is not based on the historical revealed Word of God (the Bible), but rather on individual “revelations” and understandings, sometimes ignoring the Bible altogether.

Both views are totally opposite to each other and alone they are in error. What is actually needed is a combination of the two. However, the written Word, correctly interpreted, is the objective, unchanging basis of authority. Together with the inner illumination provided by the Holy Spirit, the maturity that is essential in the Christian life is developed.

As one pastor put it, “If you have the Bible without the Spirit, you will dry up. If you have the Spirit without the Bible, you will blow up. But if you have both the Bible and the Spirit together, you will grow up.”

Historical and Prescriptive Authority
One last question needs to be answered here: is what was binding on the people in the Bible also binding on us today? Particular those things contained within the Old Testament.

In order to answer this we need to distinguish between two types of authority, Historical and Prescriptive.

Historical Authority refers to those things that were relevant only for the people of the Bible, particularly those things related to the sacrificial system that were fulfilled through Christ's work on the cross.

Prescriptive Authority refers to those things that are not specific to a defined group of people. For example, the Ten Commandments and other laws that were not fulfilled through the cross.

Therefore, in order to determine those things that still have direct authority over us today, we need to interpret the respective passages in light of the cross. If it has been fulfilled, then it falls within the category of Historical Authority, if not, then it is Prescriptive and is relevant for us today.

However, we need to remember, that even though something falls into the Historical category, it still has some bearing on our lives today as Christians, even though it is not directly Prescriptive for us. But that is something that falls into the area of hermeneutics and interpretation of Scripture. The final part of our journey in looking at Bibliology, the Doctrines of the Bible.

Psalm 119
In conclusion let us look at some verses from Psalm 119 that are relevant to what has already been covered in these last six sessions.

“Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.” (v89)
Jesus Himself said that His words will never pass away. It does not matter what we as humans may do with the Bible – false translations, rewrite it to suit our sin, leave out important verses – the fact remains that the words God has spoken are eternal, and they are established in God's dwelling place, the heavens.

“Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” (v97)
Meditation in the Bible is not like what is found in Eastern Mysticism where you are encouraged to empty your mind. Instead we are to fill our mind, and what better to fill it with than the things of God. In this case, the law of God. And it is not something that we do for fifteen minutes a day and to hope God will honour that, but rather something that is to be done all day long and becomes an ever-present part of our lives.

“Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me.” (v98)
We so often tie the “for they are ever with me” to enemies, however in the Hebrew it is tied to the commands. God's commands will never leave us. They are part of who He is, and if we believe God to be our authority, then they are part of us too. Our enemies are those that have turned their backs on God, so as a result we are wise, for it is the foolish who say that there is no God (Psalm 14:1).

“I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.” (v99)
It is one thing to teach a person about something, and another to meditate on it. I could be a great teacher and be able to expound many great things from the Bible, but if I do not meditate on it myself and allow it to become part of who I am, then all I am is a good scholar. I need to make it part of my life and do what it says. Just as Jesus warned the Jews at the time, “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.” (Matthew 23:2-3) The Scriptures may have been their authority in their teaching, but not in their practices.

“I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.” (v100)
This parallels the previous verse and is highlighting the fact that we are to practice what the Bible teaches.

“I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word.” (v101)
So often it is the little temptations in life that pull us away from spending time in God's Word. The temptation of an extra five minutes sleep on Sunday morning can easily turn into half and hour and therefore we miss out on fellowship with other believers at church. If God's Word is our authority, then we will avoid those things that pull us away from Him and then obey Him as a result.

“I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me.” (v102)
God gave us His Word in order to teach us how to live a life devoted to Him and to bring us into a right relationship with Him. If God and His Word are our authority, then we are allowing Him to teach us Himself. It is not the teachings of man that can reconcile us to God, but the things that He Himself teaches us through His Word and by His Holy Spirit. As our authority we will live a life that does not depart from His laws.

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (v103)
Sometimes when we are convicted of things through reading the Word they at first do not seem to be sweet. However, later on in life when we look back we realise that those things were sweet. Certainly sweeter than the consequences of us continuing to live in sin. An example of something being sweeter than honey is the natural sweetener called Stevia. It is so sweet that if you had to have a spoonful of it, it would taste extremely bitter. However, when the initial taste has worn off you will end up with a sweet taste in your mouth that is certainly sweeter than normal sugar and honey.

“I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.” (v104)
This is again just echoing what has gone before. By understanding God's Word and allowing it to have authority over your life, you will hate everything that is not of God.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (v105)
Probably the most famous verse in Psalm 119. If we allow God's Word to be the authority in our lives it will change us and guide us. It will show us the way we ought to live, how to treat people, how to avoid sin, and more importantly, guide us along the path of righteousness for His name's sake and not ours (Psalm 23:3).

The Challenge
The challenge to all of us is where does the authority lie in our own lives, and are we challenging those that seem to have placed their authority in the wrong place? It ultimately needs to be in God's hands and in His Word. This is part of what Jesus was talking about when He told hat “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23) Put the authority in His hands and not in our own or any other human being.

Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW

Session 5: Knowing God – The Inerrancy of the Bible

2009-02-09T13:59:00.005+02:00

The inerrancy of Scripture is one of the debates that seems to be ever present in an age of scientific and historical discoveries. It is one of the areas that is often attacked first when dealing with the authority of Scripture, therefore it is the first issue that we will cover in this regard.

Different Ideas of Inerrancy
The word inerrancy means different things to different people, even those within the same cultural or church context. Before we can proceed to concern ourselves with answering those who debate against the inerrancy of the Bible, we first need to ascertain what the three different viewpoints of the matter are.

1) Limited Inerrancy
Limited Inerrancy holds to the teaching that the Bible is inerrant and infallible in all matters relating to salvation. There is however a line drawn between those things that are revealed by God, and those things that are not. Historical and scientific references are not those things revealed by God and are therefore subject to cultural bias and limitations of the writers' knowledge at the time. Since these things were not revealed to them by God, they are therefore subject to errors.

Their position therefore is that the Bible is not a science or history text book, therefore if there are errors in these areas, it is of no concern to us. What is more important is the issues that are related to salvation, and it is in these areas that the Bible is inerrant.

2) Full Inerrancy
Full Inerrancy goes a little further with the above argument. This teaching also holds to the fact that all things related to salvation are 100% true, and also that the Bible is not a scientific or historical text book, at least for today. According to this idea, the teachings of history and science in the Bible are more like popular descriptions of the time of the writers and are more like general references or approximations. Something like an early experiment in science that is rather rudimentary compared to the sophisticated manner in which the same experiment may be done today.

This idea therefore says that the scientific and historical references are correct, for the time of the writers and initial readers, but are not correct and do not tie in with more modern discoveries.

3) Absolute Inerrancy
Absolute Inerrancy holds to the idea that the Bible is 100% true. This includes those things that relate to science and history. Everything is absolutely true and there are no contradictions or discrepancies to be found anywhere in the Bible.

Those that hold to this idea believe that even though what may seem to be incorrect when we read it at first, a closer and more careful inspection of the text and other data available will actually prove it to be true.

Example:
There is no example better than that of evolution.

Those that hold to Limited Inerrancy say that a literal understanding of the creation account in the Bible is wrong. It is not a scientific account therefore we need to place our new understanding of the origins of the world into the account in order to come to a full understanding of the event. What often happens in this regard is that the idea of God creating things in six days is denied and that they were actually not a literal 24-hours but rather millions or even billions of years in length. A marriage between the secular evolutionary model and the Bible is then explored and followed.

Those that hold to Full Inerrancy say that the writer of the creation account was writing from their understanding at the time and that it is not necessarily true to say the world was created in six days. These people seem to sit on the fence as they are waiting for all the evidence to come in to convince them one way or the other. Often there is no conviction as to their beliefs.

Those that believe in Absolute Inerrancy say that the literal six day creation is 100% true and that no scientific discovery could ever prove otherwise. They may look at all the new scientific information available, but still return to the Bible and test the information according to what it says.

The Importance of Inerrancy
From the example above it becomes easy to see therefore why we need to be concerned with the matter of inerrancy of the Bible. But before we go there, let us look at some of the reasons why people say that it is not an important issue:

Inerrant is a negative word and we rather need to use more positive words to describe the Bible.
It is not a Biblical concept as the Bible deals rather with the spiritual or moral errors we make rather than those related to intellect.
Inerrancy detracts us from the more important issues. By focussing on the minute details we miss the bigger picture about our relationship with God.
The matter is harmful to the church in that it causes disunity among those who would normally have more in common.

It is easy to understand these considerations and it is just as easy to sympathise and possible even agree with them, but that does not necessarily make it right to ignore the issue.

The best way to to show the importance is through the words of a seminary student who was serving as a student pastor in a rural church: “My people ask me, 'If the Bible says it, can I believe it?'” This summarises the core issue of the problem, but let us go into it in more depth.

1) Theological Importance
Jesus, Paul and the other New Testament writers all regarded the historical and scientific facts that they referred to in the Old Testament as being correct. They did not split hairs about what was true and what was only true in the writers' eyes. As far as they were concerned, the whole of Scripture was given by God and was therefore completely true. If this is the case, then certain implications follow:

God as omniscient, knows all things. He therefore cannot be ignorant of any error and would have to correct it. There is no indication anywhere of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit or the New Testament writers ever doing that. If anything they confirmed what was already written.

God is also omnipotent and as such, He has the power to correct any errors to make sure that they line up to the truth. He would also have worked through the writers to make sure that they did not include anything erroneous. He could even change the very laws of nature or make certain events happen to confirm His Word. But nothing like that has ever happened, so what stands has to be true.

Thirdly, God is a God of truth, absolute truth. And therefore, in giving us His Word, He made sure that it contained absolute truth. If there is any error, it would not be a testimony of Him. Therefore, what is in the Bible has to be absolutely true.

As I indicated in the last session, our understanding of the inspiration of the Bible leads us to our understanding of its inerrancy. If we believe that the Bible is fully inspired, then we cannot but hold to the idea that it is fully true. Any deviation shows that there is a chink in our armour lower down in our understanding of inspiration.

Because our understanding of the two are interlinked, the theological importance becomes paramount. To have a chink in our armour here would therefore inevitably lead to errors in our theology later.

2) Historical Importance
Though no formal declarations have historically been made concerning the inerrancy of Scripture, the church has historically held to the fact. This is seen simply in the manner in which the church down the ages has tested science with the Bible instead of testing the Bible to science.
It is only in the last 150 years since Charles Darwin published his Origin of the Species that man has begun to really question the inerrancy of Scripture. As a result, many issues that have been held steadfast within the historical church are starting to be shaken and there is an increase in immorality and false teachings entering the church. It has been shown historically that when the church has clung to the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible as primary matters, the church has been strong.

Therefore we must conclude that in the laboratory of history in which theology tests its ideas, a departure from the belief of the inerrancy of the Bible has resulted in damage to the church and its doctrines. We need to make sure that the church does not fall into the same trap again and continue to hold on to this most important doctrine.

3) Philosophical Importance
By philosophical here I mean being able to answer the question: “How do I know for sure?”
If we truly believe that the Bible is 100% true, then the answer is easy, “Because the Bible tells me so.”

However, if we do not believe the Bible to be 100% true, there is no way of knowing for sure whether what we believe is true. This then reduces our position before the world and weakens our testimony.

If we want to be ready in and out of season to give answers to the questions of the world and to give an answer for the hope that we have in Christ, then we need to ensure that we know what we believe in terms of this doctrine.

Examples
Let's now look at a few examples from the Bible where discrepancies and errors seem to be evident:
2 Samuel 10:18 and 1 Chronicles 19:18
“But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there.” (2 Samuel 10:18)

“But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven thousand of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers. He also killed Shophach the commander of their army.” (1 Chronicles 19:18)

The above verses are taken from the NIV and as a result seem contradictory. However, when you read them in a more literal translation from the Hebrew, a different picture emerges:
“And the Syrians fled before Israel. And David killed from Syria men from seven hundred chariots, and forty thousand horsemen. And he struck Shobach the commander of the army, and he died there.” (2 Samuel 10:18)

“and Syria fled before Israel, and David killed seven thousand charioteers of Syria, and forty thousand footmen, and he killed Shophach, the army commander.” (1 Chronicles 19:18)

To understand the historical context we need to bear in mind how chariot teams worked. There was a team of ten soldiers assigned to a chariot. When a soldier was killed in the chariot, the driver would go back to the team and fetch another. If the driver was killed, the soldier would take over as the driver and go back to the team for another. If soldiers became tired, they would also swap with those still energetic enough to fight. There were also teams of ten horses assigned to each chariot and were swapped out in the same manner. Only once the whole team was wiped out was the chariot deemed destroyed.

Therefore, 10 people times 700 chariots equals 7 000 charioteers – no more discrepancy.

The Molten Sea
“He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it.” (2 Chronicles 4:2)
Here we are told that the molten sea had the following dimensions:

Diameter: 10 cubits
Height: 5 cubits
Circumference: 30 cubits

Now we all know that to work out the circumference it is the diameter times π (3.14159265). therefore the circumference should have been 31.4159 cubits and not 30.

However, read on: “It was a handbreadth in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held three thousand baths.” (v5)

So here we are given an image of what it looked like. The top edge had a lip on it.

Therefore, the diameter would be 10 cubits from lip to lip, but the circumference, not taken at the lip but on the body of the bowl itself would be 30 cubits (diameter of ±9.5 cubits).

But what about the same passage in 1 Kings 7 where it says the bowl only held 2 000 baths (v26)?

To solve this we need to look at the Hebrew. The Hebrew word for “held” is kûl which means “able to contain”.

If I tell you that a glass is able to hold 500ml of liquid does not make the statement that it is able to hold 300ml of liquid false. Both are equally true. Therefore, the molten sea was able to hold 3 000 or 2 000 baths of water. Both are true. It is not telling us that it actually was holding that amount of water, only what it was able to hold.

All discrepancies are once again removed.

The Death of Judas
According to Matthew 27:5, Judas committed suicide by hanging himself.

Acts 1:18 however states that “he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out.”

Some have tried to reconcile the two by saying that the rope snapped after he hung himself and fell headlong, etc. However, when you look at the Greek, there is a word that has caused some difficulty, prēnēs.

For many years this word was only understood to mean “falling headlong”, however twentieth-century investigations of papyri have revealed that this word has another meaning, that being “swelling up” (See A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament by G. Abbott-Smith).

Therefore Judas' death would be as follows: Judas hung himself as in Matthew 27, but his body was not discovered until some time later. In such a situation, the internal organs would begin to deteriorate first, causing a swelling of the abdomen. This is seen in cases when cadavers have not been properly embalmed. And so, swelling up, Judas burst open and all his intestines spilled out as per Acts 1:18.

Though this may not be a full explanation, it is a far more workable solution to the original attempt, and once again the discrepancy is removed.

Other Supposed Discrepancies to Investigate in Your Own Time:

1 Kings 4:26 - 2 Chronicles 9:25
Numbers 25:9 - 1 Corinthians 10:8
1 Kings 9:26-28 - 2 Chronicles 8:17-18
2 Samuel 24:24 - 1 Chronicles 21:25

Conclusion
In a world where there are so many erroneous misconceptions and so many opinions, the Bible is a sure source of guidance. When correctly interpreted it can be fully trusted and followed, without error. This then forms another part of the foundation of our theology, and without it we open ourselves to many errors infiltrating our theology.

Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW

Session 4: Knowing God – The Doctrine of Inspiration

2009-01-30T10:49:00.009+02:00

What do you understand by the word “inspiration”?

Is it merely a motivation like one would have after a great athlete had given an inspirational speech? Is it what you feel when you hear an encouraging tale of how someone overcame cancer? Or is it more than that?

In order to fully understand inspiration, we first need to fully understand some key words that are often associated with the subject.

Definitions
1) Revelation
Revelation is the communication of truth which could not be otherwise discovered. In the same way that a person can reveal something about themselves to someone else that could not have been otherwise determined, so too God revealed His person and purpose to man.

Tying this in with the last session dealing with God's revelation, the Bible therefore is God's revelation to man about Himself, and not man's thoughts about God.

Some key verses relating to this are: Deuteronomy 29:29; Matthew 11:25-27; 16:16-18; 1 Corinthians 2:9-14 and Ephesians 3:2-6.

2) Inspiration
To be honest, in modern English we have forgotten the original meaning of the word. Today it is likened with the word “motivation” as indicated above, but originally it meant something far deeper.

According to the Webster's English Dictionary of 1828, “inspiration” meant “1. The act of drawing air into the lungs; the inhaling of air; a branch of respiration, and opposed to expiration; and 2. The act of breathing into any thing.”

Therefore, when we read the following in the King James Version, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16), we interpret them to be meaning more than God just inspiring man to write the Bible in the modern sense of the word, but that it is more like the rendering in the New International Version that says:
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

While revelation is concerned with the impartation of truth by God to man, inspiration is concerned with the recording of that truth.

Some other key verses relating to this are: Exodus 17:14; 2 Samuel 23:2; Jeremiah 30:2; 2 Peter 1:20-21 and Revelation 1:11.

3) Illumination
Illumination describes the process of the Holy Spirit enlightening man's understanding to be able to receive God's revelation. This is the sense in which the word inspiration is used in the New Testament in relation to how people are to currently operate.

Believers since the death of the apostles are not to receive revelation concerning the written Word, but rather illumination by the Holy Spirit on how to understand it.

Some key verses relating to this are: Luke 24:26-27; 44-45; John 16:12-15; Acts 17:1-3; 1 Corinthians 2:11-14 and Ephesians 1:17-18).

Summary
To summarise the different meanings:

Revelation – God's act of making himself known to man (see sessions 2 & 3)
Inspiration – The recording of God's revealed truth
Illumination – Our perception and understanding of the truth brought about by the influence of the Holy Spirit.

False Theories of Inspiration
Before we progress into looking how the Bible is inspired, let us first look at some of the false theories of inspiration.

By first looking at some of the false theories of inspiration, it becomes easier to understand the true Doctrine of Inspiration as revealed in Scripture.

Natural Theory
This is also referred to as the Intuition Theory. This theory is that the Bible was written by human genius or by men who were mentally superior. Many of the great writing of history can be included into this theory, like Shakespeare's plays, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, or the many of the writings of other religions.

What this theory denies however is that of a divine origin of Scripture. Of someone who is outside of the realm of earth. If this were true, then how come there are so many parts of Scripture that natural man cannot understand, and also, how is it possible that portions written centuries earlier than other parts seem to be so well intertwined with later parts.

Illumination Theory
This theory holds to the idea that the Bible is a result of man reaching some kind of illumination or a heightened sense of religious perception. In terms of this theory, just as man today receives a heightened sense of perception through the Holy Spirit, so the authors of the Bible received the same illumination.

This theory falls short is that it is denying God's involvement in the process. It is impossible for man to reason himself to God, even with the help of the Holy Spirit. Man has to rely on the things that God has already revealed about Himself to man. The Bible is not a product of man's illumination.

Mechanical Theory
Also called the Dictation Theory as it holds to the idea that God dictated the Word of God to the writers in the same manner that a boss would dictate a letter to their secretary. The Bible therefore becomes a verbatim account of the very words spoken by God.

The problem with this theory is that it makes man into a mere robot who acted like a tape recorder who just recites the words exactly as they were spoken. The writers are therefore merely the ones who used their pens to record God's words and excludes the personalities of the writers that are so clearly evident in Scripture. This idea reduces the writers to the same level as spiritists who are controlled by evil spirits.

Trance Theory
Similar to the Mechanical Theory, this theory holds to the idea that the writers entered into a trance and then merely recorded word for word or picture for picture what they heard and saw.
True, there are accounts of this recorded in Scripture, but it is an incomplete concept and rules out man's conscious involvement in the process.

Partial Theory
This theory holds to the idea that only parts of the Bible are inspired. It teaches that the Bible contains the Word of God, but that it is not the total Word of God.

There is one big problem with this theory. Who then is the final authority to tell us which part is inspired and which part is not? It opens the door to all sorts of misinterpretations of Scripture and undermines the inspiration and authority of all Scripture.

Thought Theory
Also referred to as the Dynamic Theory and holds to the idea that God merely gave the writers the thoughts or concepts, but allowed them to express them in their own words.

The question that comes out of this theory is that if the inspiration was limited to the thoughts, how can we be assured that the writers chose the right words to express those ideas? To be reliable, the inspiration had to extend to the words used to express those ideas.

Verbal-Plenary Inspiration
There are two elements that need to be kept in balance to arrive at a Biblical view of interpretation; God's involvement and man's involvement.

God's Involvement
God could have written the Bible Himself in the same manner that He wrote the Ten Commandments (Exodus 32-34) or the writing on Belshazzar's wall (Daniel 5). He could also have had the angels write it in the same way that they were involved in the giving of the Mosaic law (Acts 7:53 and Galatians 3:19). However, He chose to include the goal of the book in its production: re-uniting man unto Himself.

For forty different men, to write sixty-six books in three languages, over a period of one thousand six hundred years to become one harmonious book is humanly impossible. That coupled with the unity and progression of thought from start to finish without a single contradiction, clearly shows that there was only one author behind it all; God.

This is supported in the mere fact that the phrase “God said” appears over three thousand eight hundred times. These human writers themselves claimed to be the channels of God's Word (Exodus 32:16; Deuteronomy 10:2-4; Jeremiah 7:27; 1 Corinthians 2:13 – to name but a few).
God is the author of Scripture and the Bible is His Word.

Man's Involvement
Even though God is the author, He chose men to be involved and to do the writing. The Word of God was intended for men to read, so God used men to write it. Throughout Scripture we see God using man's frame of reference, cultural background, historical perspective, personality, emotions and experiences. God clothed His revelation with man's humanity so that man may understand it.

Product of Both God and Man
The miracle of the inspiration of the Bible is this: that God could channel His revelation through man without it losing its perfection; that sinful man could impart divine truth; and that the Holy Spirit could use fallible man to write the infallible Word of God without violating their personalities.

This brings us to the theory of the Word of God being Verbally-Plenarily inspired.

Verbal simply means by means of words. Plenary means fully or completely, in every part.

This theory states that the writers of the Bible were fully inspired even as to their very choice of words and that the Bible is completely the Word of God. God fully utilised the faculties of sinful, fallible man, and yet overruled their limitations to bring forth a holy, infallible revelation of Himself.

Proofs of Inspiration
There are a number of areas that can be used to confirm the inspiration of the Bible. The first most obvious way is by looking at the prophecies.

1) Prophecy and Fulfilment
In order for a prediction of coming events to be confirmed as valid, four tests need to be done:

The prophecy must have been uttered before the event happened
The prophecy must be explicit and specific in its predictions so as to rule out any possible accidental or coincidental fulfilment
Those who utter the prophecy must not be involved in its fulfilment/li>
The events of the fulfilment must match 100% to the prophecy in all points

All prophecies of a predictive nature in the Bible pass all four of the above tests. None more so than those concerning the coming of the Messiah. Over a period of 4000 years before Jesus' birth, over 330 prophecies were made concerning His first coming, and every single one of them came to pass.

Just the fact that so many prophecies, uttered over such a vast period of time, all being fulfilled in one person within a short space of time is impressive proof that the prophets were inspired to write what they did.

Only God can declare the end from the beginning (Isaiah 40:28; 42:8-9; 43:9-10). Prophecy therefore is solid evidence that the Bible was not written by men alone. No prediction of future events could ever have been predicted by any man without the Spirit of God.

2) Miracles
The Bible is full of miracles, and at each event, there were a number of witnesses to attest to them. Many of them even have non-Biblical evidence that agrees with the accounts as recorded in the Bible. Each of the miracles are a witness to the validity of the message of the Bible, even those that are witnessed today.

3) Numerical Structure
Throughout Scripture there are numbers present. Each with its own unique meaning, yet all connected in one way or another. Sometimes the numbers are mentioned directly, others are merely implied. And still others are hidden. Take the following example of the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:1-7, as seen in the original Greek:

The number of words used is divisible by 7.
The number of words beginning with a vowel are divisible by 7.
Likewise, the number of words beginning with a consonant are divisible by 7.
The number of letters used is divisible by 7.
The number of vowels used is divisible by 7.
Likewise, the number consonants used is divisible by 7.
The number of words used more than once is divisible by 7.
Likewise, those words used only once are divisible by 7.
The number of words occurring in more than one form is divisible by 7.
Likewise, the number of words used in only one for are divisible by 7.
The number of nouns used is divisible by 7.
Likewise, the number of non-nouns used is divisible by 7.
The number of proper nouns is divisible by 7.
The number of male names mentioned is divisible by 7.

Clearly a structure that indicates some form of supernatural involvement.

4) Unity of the Bible
Even though the Bible was written by so many people, in a number of different countries, over such a wide span of time, with a number of different genres, it is an amazingly unified book with one central message that is traced and seen throughout.

5) Preservation of the Bible
Throughout its history, the Bible has been both the most loved and the most hated book. Despite nations and rulers trying to remove the Bible, it has stood the test of time and remains today the number one best selling book of all time.

The Bible has been rejected, corrupted and challenged. Its infallibility and authority have been attacked from all angles. Yet the Bible still stands. This is truly evident of God's miraculous preservation of His Word, and is a fulfilment of His promise in Matthew 5:18, “I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”

6) Influence of the Bible
No other book in history has had the influence that the Bible has had. It has touched every nation on earth in one way or another. It has been translated into more languages and reproduced in larger quantities than any other book. Millions of lives have been impacted by it.

7) The Bible's own Claims
Scripture itself claims to be inspired. See the relevant verses in each of the following areas:

The Writers
Both Old and New Testament writers stated that their words were not their own, but came from God – Deuteronomy 4:2; 2 Samuel 23:2; 1 Chronicles 28:11,19; Luke 1:70; Acts 1:16; 1 Peter 1:10-12 and 2 Peter 1:20-21; 3:2.

The Writings
Writers also claimed that God had spoken to them and told them to record it in a book – Exodus 17:14; 34:27; 24:4; Deuteronomy 31:22, 26; 1 Corinthians 2:13; Galatians 1:11-12 and Revelation 1:18-20.

The writings as a whole also claim inspiration – Jeremiah 30:2; Acts 28:25; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16 and Hebrews 2:1-4.

The Contents
Scripture claims that its contents are inspired – Psalm 139:17; Isaiah 55:8-11; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 3:1 and Jude 17.

The thoughts and words originated from God in their prophetic utterances – Leviticus 1:1; Deuteronomy 34:48; Isaiah 1:2; 7:3; 43:1, Jeremiah 11:1; Ezekiel 1:3; Hosea 1:1; Matthew 25:42-45; John 10:35; 1 Corinthians 14:37; Galatians 3:16 and Hebrews 12:26-27.

Conclusion
What benefits then does the inspiration of the Bible give us?

Understanding and knowing that the Bible is inspired (breathed out) by God enables us to understand and be convinced of the fact that the Bible is genuine, credible, infallible and has authority over us.

Once we are clear and stand firmly on all of the above, then we can move on into other areas of doctrine and fully understanding who God is and what He wants for us. If any one of these areas is lacking, we open the door to huge misinterpretation and manipulation of the Bible. It allows the devil to come in and warp our understanding of God and drives a wedge between us and God.

Extra Note: The Apocrypha
Apocrypha means that which is veiled or secret, and refers to the 14 books that were been added to the Old Testament by the Roman Catholic church in AD 1546. These books are: 1 & 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Book of Esther, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Song of the Three Holy Children, History of Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, The Prayer of Manasses and 1 & 2 Macabees.
Most Christian scholars reject the idea that these books have a place within the canon of Scripture for the following reasons:

It is universally acknowledged that they never had a place within the Jewish canon.
They were written in the 400 years of silence between Malachi and Matthew when there were no inspired utterances.
They are not quoted in the New Testament by Jesus or the apostles.
They are not found in any list of Canonical books during the first four centuries of the church.
Divine inspiration and authority is not claimed by any of the writers and is disclaimed by some of them.
None of the writers speak with a message from Yahweh.
They contain historical, geographical and chronological errors and even contradict themselves, the Bible and history.
They teach doctrines and uphold practices that are contradictory to the Bible.

Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW

Session 3: Knowing God through Special Revelation

2009-01-24T09:35:00.004+02:00

Since General Revelation refers to the knowledge of God that is available to all mankind, it suggests then that all man has some form of knowledge of God based on either creation, history or the conscience, special revelation refers to those acts of God whereby He reveals Himself and His will directly to specific people.

Why was this special revelation necessary? The answer lies simply in the fact that man has lost the relationship with God that existed before the fall. Knowledge of God therefore has to be learned in a more fuller, direct way, and had to go beyond the initial or general revelation that is all around.

This is seen in five key areas:

Personal Experience
Miracles
Prophecy
Christ
Scripture

1) The Revelation of God Through Experience
Throughout history, man has tried to have some form of experience of God. In each of these experiences it is possible to learn something about God. There are many stories of such experiences throughout the Bible:

God revealing Himself to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3)
Jacob's personal encounters and wrestling match with God (Genesis 28:13; 35:1)
Joseph and his dreams (Genesis 37:5-11)
Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-5) and all the other occasions during the Exodus
Joshua meeting the Lord of the Captain of the Host (Joshua 1:1; 5:13-15)
Gideon's visitation from God (Judges 6:25)
Elijah and the still small voice (1 Kings 17:2-4)
Paul and his experience on the Damascus Road (Acts 9:4-6; 18:9)

All of these experiences taught the individual concerned something about God, and indeed personal experiences that we may experience today will teach us something about God. However, these experiences are not sufficient to give us a complete picture of Him.

2) The Revelation of God Through Miracles
A miracle is a supernatural intervention by God into the laws of nature. Many of these are seen throughout the Bible:

The plagues in Egypt
The opening of the Red Sea and the Jordan River
The Manna from heaven and the water from the rock
The numerous healings in the Old Testament, the Gospels and the book of Acts
The greatest miracle of them all, the resurrection of Jesus.

All of the above are genuine miracles, and all brought about change for the good for all people concerned. Through each of these miracles something specific can be learned about God, and each one's purpose was to bring men back to God.

What does need to be remembered however, is that the devil can also perform miracles. However, these “miracles” are not there to bring people to God, but rather to turn man away from Him.

This raises many questions as to whether true miracles still happen today, a point for discussion later within BT101. However, for the time being I believe it is safe to say that the possibility exists for both real and counterfeit miracles to happen today, but they need to be tested against the Bible and the fruits that they produce.

However, using miracles alone do not tell us everything there is to know about God. More is needed.

3) The Revelation of God Through Prophecy
So often we tend to think of prophecy only in terms of being able to predict the future. Even though this is part of prophecy, it is not all of it.

Prophecy is best defined as a declaration of truth, whether it be through prediction or preaching, prophecy is all about declaring the things of God. This is why it is so important to bear in mind the qualifications of a true prophet as laid out in Deuteronomy 13. God is all about truth, and so to predict something that does not come to pass, one is a liar and God is not in the prediction.

So too with preaching and teaching. They form part of prophecy as they are both to be concerned with the truth. If there is any trace of an intentional lie within them, then they are not of God. A preacher or teacher should be concerned with declaring the truth and nothing but the truth.

Throughout the Bible we see many incidents of the above; whether it be Isaiah or Daniel predicting some future event, or the apostles declaring words of truth in their teachings, all were concerned with God. Through each of the predictions we learn that God is faithful and knows all things. All prophecies, other than those concerning the end times and Christ's second coming have been fulfilled. No other god or religion can boast that.

Through each of the above declarations, God revealed something specific about Himself, and indeed about man too. This is all part of God's specific revelation of Himself to man.

Again, by looking at the prophecies we do not learn everything there is to know about God. A more personal revelation is needed.

4) The Revelation of God in Christ
None of the forms of revelation covered in Natural Revelation show us anything about the nature of God. However, through Jesus Christ coming to earth, showing to us the very nature of God, and showing how all of the teachings contained in the law, prophets and miracles of the Old Testament are about Him, we learn more about the true nature of God.

Jesus is the sum of all God's revelations put together, including His will, his nature, His character and His person. To look at Christ is to look at God. It is for this reason that Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Jesus Christ was the physical representation on earth of God the Father in heaven.

Therefore, those that saw Jesus in the flesh, saw God and learnt all about Him. That is all well and good, but what about us in the twenty-first century. We have not had the joy of seeing God in the flesh?

5) The Revelation of God Through Scripture
From the creation of the world, until the time of Christ, all of the above revelations were being played out before man's eyes. What was needed was a written down account of all of God's revelations.

Therefore, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God used men to record everything that was needed for men to know Him. Right from the first word in Genesis, to the last in Revelation, man recorded everything there was to record about Him.

No other book in the history of the world has been able to withstand the test of time. Man and the devil have tried on numerous occasions to remove or destroy it, yet it still remains. It may have been translated a number of times, but its message and the revelations of God that it contains remain.

In fact, we have no other reliable source today concerning the person and character of God than the Bible. It contains all we need to know about Him. Anything else, whether it be personal experiences, miracles or prophecy, is insufficient in teaching us anything about God if it is not balanced by Scripture. The Bible is to be the measuring rod for all other special revelations that might come our way.

The Bible is His complete and ultimate human (that is readable or tangible) authority on the subject of Himself.

Conclusion
However, all of this is meaningless if the Holy Spirit is not at work in our hearts and minds to enable us to understand God's Word (see 1 Corinthians 2:12; Luke 24:44-45 and John 20:22).
In the words of Karl Barth:
“For me the Word of God is a happening, not a thing. Therefore the Bible must become the Word of God, and it does so through the work of the Holy Spirit.”

Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW

Session 2: Knowing God through General Revelation

2009-01-22T09:18:00.001+02:00

How can one truly know God? How does He reveal Himself to man?

There are two basic classifications of revelation. Firstly there is what is known as General Revelation. This is God communicating about Himself to all people at all times and in all places.

Then there is Special Revelation. This involves God's particular communication and manifestations of Himself to particular people, at particular times. These revelations are only available to us today through particular sacred writings.

General Revelation
General Revelation refers to God revealing Himself through nature, history and the inner being of man.

General Revelation is general in two aspects:

It is accessible to all people at all times
It is general in nature in that it is not as detailed as Special Revelation

A number of questions come to mind concerning General Revelation. Firstly, is the revelation genuine? Is it really there, or are we reading into things? Can one therefore construct a picture of God from nature, history or by looking at oneself?

1) Creation
The Bible itself proposes that General Revelation exists through the creation:
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” (Psalm 19:1)
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)

These and numerous other passages suggest that God can be known through looking at creation.

2) History (His Story)
History itself also seems to give us a picture of God. Just the fact that the Jewish people of Israel remain in existence despite extreme odds. An idea that is itself confirmed in the Bible:
“He will not let your foot slip — he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” (Psalm 121:3-4)

3) Man
But what about man himself? Our physical make up and mental capacities that are far superior to those of the rest of the animals, surely they show us something about God. And nothing more so than the whole idea of conscience and morality that seems to exist for no apparent reason suggests that there is a superior power in charge.

We often have a sense of right from wrong that seems to exist for no apparent reason.
In fact, throughout all cultures, and throughout the millennia, man has had some concept of a higher power that is to be worshipped. Even though the particulars of the deity and how he is to be worshipped varies, the concept of a god seems to be ingrained.

Let us go into each one of these in a little more depth.

Natural Theology
Natural theology maintains that God can actually be known simply by studying nature without the aid of the Bible.

This thought involves certain major assumptions:

The world is the same today as it always has been, and is as God intended it to be.
There is no state of decay, and if there is, it must therefore be part of God's nature.
There is no limitations to the thinking of man and that he has not been effected by sin and the fall.
It is possible, without any faith whatsoever, or any special authority, to come to a genuine knowledge of God on the basis of reason alone.

Thomas Aquinas, a key proponent of Natural Theology, argued it this way:

In the realm of our experience, everything that we know is caused by something else. There cannot, however, be an infinite regress of causes, for if that were the case, the whole series of causes would never have begun. There must therefore be some uncaused cause (unmoved mover) or necessary being. And this we (or all people) call God.

Various parts of the universe exhibit behaviour which is adaptive or which brings out a desirable end. When such behaviour is displayed by humans, we recognise that we have consciously willed and directed ourselves towards that end. Some of the objects in our universe, however, cannot have done any purposeful planning (e.g. rocks). Their ordering according to a purpose or design must have come from somewhere else. Some intelligent being must therefore have ordered things in this desirable fashion, a being we call God.

We all possess a moral impulse. Even though being good does not always get us what we want, there is still that desire to follow that impulse. It therefore stands to reason that this impulse is something that originated from outside of us, that origin being God.

Critique of Natural Theology
If any or all of these arguments are valid and adequately presented, then any rational person would be convinced, yet there exists many who deny the existence of one ultimate supreme being we know as God.

The only thing that these arguments show us, if adequately presented, is that a higher power with greater knowledge than ours does indeed exist, but it says nothing about his character or why he did it in the first place. When we look at the many natural disasters it does not lead us to say that he is a God of love, or that he is good. Instead they seem to point to the opposite being true.

Relevant Passages
How then do we reconcile the relevant passages to the whole idea of Natural Theology, particularly Romans 1-2?

We cannot read these passages in isolation, but need to look at the bigger picture that Paul presents. Paul tells us in Romans 8 that sin has ruined it for us. The created order is subject to futility (v20) and it waits for its liberation (vv19,21,23). As a result, even though it is still God's creation and continues to witness to Him (Psalm 19), it is not quite what it was when He first created it. Its testimony of the creator has become blurred.

Back in Romans 1:21 we read that sin itself has darkened our eyes to God through our rejection of Him.

Therefore, while Paul does tell us that the creation does reveal the existence of God, sin has darkened that testimony to our minds. Paul therefore questions Natural Theology.

Historical Theology
This is theology based on how God has revealed Himself to man through His sovereign acts within history.

At various points in history, nations have risen and fallen at the most significant times. From reading the Bible we come to see a number of times where we see God's hand involved within certain historical events, all of which can be backed up with archaeological and historical evidence.

Egypt – Exodus 9-12; Jeremiah 46:14-26; Ezekiel 29-30; Romans 9:17
Assyrian Empire falls – Isaiah 10:12-19; Ezekiel 31; Nahum 3:1-7
Babylonian Kingdom succumbing to the attack of the Medo-Persians with the drying up of the Euphrates – Daniel 1-5; Jeremiah 50-51; Isaiah 45:1-5; 47-48
Medo-Persian Empire coming under God's judgement – Isaiah 44:24-45:7; Daniel 2; 7
Greek Empire collapsing – Daniel 8:1-25; 11:1-35
Rise and fall of the Roman Empire – Daniel 8:1-25; 11:1-35

Not to forget all the mentions of the nation of Israel throughout the Bible.

Although these historical events do somehow seem to show some form of overall power in control, they do not in any way reveal to us anything about who He is. Therefore, as with creation, history is insufficient for a personal knowledge of Him. Further revelation is needed.

Humanistic Theology
A definition of conscience is “knowing oneself” and includes an awareness of right and wrong.
It is universally accepted that all mankind possess the faculty of conscience. Man is a moral creature, and this is seen throughout the world through laws and justice systems. The question then is, where did man obtain this conscience from? Could it have just developed like the evolutionists try and tell us, or is it from some external source.

According to Paul, the Gentiles, who were not taught the law like the Jews were, still “do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them” (Romans 2:14-15).

This inherent law within man suggests a supreme law-giver who not only placed the law within man's hearts, but also holds man accountable.

But this is insufficient for two reasons:

Even though the existence of conscience does indicate the existence of a law-giver, it does not give us any indication as to His person,
because of man's sinful nature, as mentioned above, man is fallible. Therefore it is impossible to rely on that testimony.

Conclusion
Even though Scripture alludes to the fact that God can be seen through His handiwork, history and conscience of man, nowhere does it say that this is proof of His existence. Nor do they indicate anything about the character of God other than that He is a creator, is sovereignly in control and that He has a standard for all men to follow.

I think John Calvin's analogy describes it best:
A sinner is like a person with a sight problem. When the latter looks at an object, they see it indistinctly. It is blurry to them. But when they put on a pair of spectacles, they can see clearly. Similarly, sinners do not recognise God in the creation, history or conscience, but when they put on the spectacles of faith, their sight improves and they can see God in His handiwork.
What is needed is an understanding of Special Revelation, the next leg of our journey, to fully understand how General Revelation fits in to our theology.

Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW

Session 1: Studying God

2009-01-15T15:03:00.003+02:00

Purpose
So often people's theology is a combination of things that have been heard from the pulpit, seen on TV, and read in books. Often things are taken for granted in theology that have been handed down through tradition, denomination, and time, that are not always Biblically correct. Instead of being like the Bereans who tested everything (Acts 17:11), even the words of Paul, many people are like sponges who just absorb anything and everything thrown at them.

The purpose of BT101 is to facilitate discussion so that we can formulate a Biblical Theology of Christianity. It is not coming from any particular denominational stance, nor is its purpose to show errors in different denominations. Instead we are approaching the topics from a Biblical viewpoint, discussing and dissecting Scripture so that we will always be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have to anyone who asks (1 Peter 3:15)

Before one embarks on a theological journey for the first time, one needs to be sure that they understand the basics of theology right at the beginning.

Terminology
The first thing that we need to look at is some basic terminology.

1) What is theology?
The word theology is derived from 2 Greek words, Theos (Θεος), meaning God (general term and is not specific to Christianity) and logos (λογος)meaning word or study of.
Theology can therefore be defined as: The study of or teaching about God (or god), religious doctrines and of all matters pertaining to divinity.

2) What is doctrine/dogma?
Doctrine/dogma is simply the substance of what is studied or taught.

3) What is the difference between doctrine and dogma?
Dogma is man's statement of a truth set forth, as in a creed.
Doctrine is God's revelation of truth as is found in the Bible.

4) What is religion?
Religion, quite simply, is the practice of doctrine/dogma.

Objections
Today in the post-post-modern society that we live in, it seems as though there is a turning away from doctrine. This is a fulfilment of 2 Timothy 4:3, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”

The need to return to sound doctrine is clearly evident.

But what are the answers to the common objection that people have towards doctrine?

Objection 1: It does not matter what you believe, it only matters that you love Jesus.
It is impossible to separate Christ from doctrine. He and His Word are one (see John 1).
It is impossible to accept Christ, while at the same time rejecting His teachings, even though it is possible to accept His teachings without accepting Him.

Objection 2: Doctrine is dull, dry, boring, dead, and is useless for us today. We need practical teaching.
Doctrine can be all of the above, however, the problem is not with the doctrine, but the teacher. The same can be said for many of the fields of science when the one teaching it is dull, dry, boring and dead.

If doctrine is correctly taught, it is not only practical, but life-changing:
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16,17).

Objection 3: Experience is more important than doctrine.
Experiencing God is good, but those experiences must always be governed by Biblical theology. Unguarded experiences will always lead to error.

Focus on the experience and you will miss out on God. Focus on God and you will experience Him.

Objection 4: Doctrine leads to division, that's why there are so many denominations.
Think of it this way: stars existed before astronomy, life existed before biology, God existed before theology. Yet in all three of these disciplines there has been a perversion and a resultant division between people. Astronomy turned into astrology, biology into evolution, theology into idolatry. In all cases it was man and his interpretation that has caused the division.

Doctrine does not originate from the church, but from God Himself:
“Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own” (John 7:16-17).

All the ideologies and “isms” of today are as a result of people not following Biblical doctrine.
All the divisions and evils in the world are as a result of people not obeying God's doctrine.
If all followed God's doctrine, there would be no division.

Purpose
Having looked at what theology is and some of the objections people have to studying it, we now need to ascertain what the purpose of doctrine is.

Luke 1:1-4 gives us a hint of this purpose:
“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”

a) “draw up an account” - the process (theology)
b) “things that have been fulfilled” - the details of the Gospel (doctrine)
c) “carefully investigated” - this is not a practice we take lightly
c) “may know with certainty” - so as to be able to determine true from false doctrine
d) “taught” - Greek katēcheō (κατηχεω) – to instruct by means of dialogue

The purpose of theology therefore is to set forth the things that are most surely believed by true Christians so as to instruct the believer that they can know the certainty of the Truth.

Necessity
What then is the necessity of doctrine?

This is an age where all Christians need to know:
WHO they believe in
WHAT they believe, and
WHY they believe it.

Answers to these three W's will inevitably lead to determining:
Our past – where do we come from
Our character – who we are
Our attitude – towards, God, others and ourselves, and in all circumstances
Our actions – what we do
Our words – what we say
Our purpose – why am I here
Our destiny – where we are going

It is therefore necessary that Christians be instructed in sound Biblical doctrine and that all doctrine be tested by the full context of the infallible Word of God.

Doctrine received, believed and practiced determines a person's character, behaviour and destiny.

The need for doctrine can be summed up in the following:
Our relationship with God: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11¨6).

Our relationship with Jesus: “This is how you can recognise the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God” (1 John 4:2-3a).

Our salvation: “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame”” (Romans 10:9-11).

Sources of doctrine
One of the issues that needs to be dealt with before we embark on our journey is that of the source from which our doctrine comes.

There are generally four accepted sources:
1) Natural Theology: The created universe is studied in order to determine truths about God, man's origins and human nature.
2) Tradition: The past beliefs of the church and individuals are studied to determine what things we take as being true really are or not, and whether they should form part of our doctrine.
3) The Scriptures: The Bible as the defining document of Christian faith is studied in order to find the specifics that are to be believed and practiced.
4) Experience: Religious experiences, past and current, are studied in order to determine who God is and how His relating to people has changed. New moves and new revelations of God are also studied in this area.

We will follow the third approach during our journey.

Nature of true doctrine
Before we embark on our journey, we need to remember several important facets concerning the nature of true doctrine:

1) Doctrine must be sound
“Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.” (Matthew 22:29)

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:6-9)

“We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers — and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.” (1 Timothy 1:9-11)

“If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.” (1 Timothy 4:6)

“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (1 Timothy 4:2-4)

“He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” (Titus 1:9)

“You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.” (Titus 2:1)

2) Doctrine must be pure
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognise them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognise them.” (Matthew 7:15-20)

3) Doctrine must be Biblical
“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:14-17)

“You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.” (Titus 2:1)

4) Doctrine must be obeyed
“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.” (Matthew 23:1-3)

“Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own” (John 7:16-17).

“But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.” (Romans 6:17)

5) Doctrine determines character
“If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.” (1 Timothy 4:6)

“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:13-16)

“If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.” (1 Timothy 6:3-5)

“In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive.” (Titus 2:7-10).

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (2 Peter 1:3)

6) Doctrine affects fellowship
“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:46-47)

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched — this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:1-7)

“Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him.” (2 John 1:9-10)

7) Doctrine determines destiny
““What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!”” (Matthew 27:22)

“So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.” (2 Peter 3:14-15)

8) Doctrine must be surrounded with love
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-6)

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:16)

Conclusion
Did you know that more than one-third of the New Testament is devoted to doctrine? In fact, much of Jesus' teachings in the Gospels and Revelation are on the correction and importance of correct Biblical doctrine. Why would God have included so much within the Bible if it was not that important?

We are called to test what man says. To not plainly accept what a preacher says, but to go to the Bible and see if those things are so (Acts 17:11). If it is not in the Bible, we are commanded by God to reject it, expose it (Titus 1:9) and to not entertain those who teach it (2 John 1:10). Just because a preacher is ordained (by fallen man) does not mean that we have to accept what he says – test it by our final and ONLY authority – The WORD OF GOD.

Without correct doctrine it is impossible to have correct conduct.

Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW

THE SHACK & Its New Age Leaven

2008-08-08T15:26:00.002+02:00

Being an owner of a Christian bookshop I am constantly coming across books being introduced into the Christian market that are actually New Age and have absolutely nothing to do with true Christianity. One such book is The Shack written by William P. Young.

I tried a couple of times to read this book, but as of yet have not been able to finish it. Apart from its lack of action, drama and intrigue, this book is so theologically perverse that I am not ever going to try again. Needless to say that I will not be stocking this book in our shop.

I came across the following review of the book on the Herescope website and found it to be so well put that I thought I would post it here.

THE SHACK & Its New Age Leaven
God IN Everything?
By Warren Smith
"A little leaven leaventh the whole lump." - Galatians 5:9

The Shack is being described as a "Christian" novel and is currently ranked number one on the New York Times bestseller list for paperback fiction. Many believers are buying multiple copies and giving them to friends and family. The Shack reads as a true story, but is obviously allegorical fiction. The book conveys postmodern spiritual ideas and teachings that challenge biblical Christianity – all in the name of "God" and "Jesus" and the "Holy Spirit." Author William P. Young’s alternative presentation of traditional Christianity has both inspired and outraged his many readers. All the while his book continues to fly off the shelves of local bookstores.

Much like New Age author James Redfield’s book The Celestine Prophecy, The Shack is a fictional vehicle for upending certain religious concepts and presenting contrary spiritual scenarios. Allegorical novels can be a clever way to present truth. They can also be used to present things that seem to be true but really are not. Some books like The Shack do both.

I was drawn into the New Age Movement years ago by books and lectures containing parabolic stories that were not unlike The Shack. They felt spiritually uplifting as they tackled tough issues and talked about God’s love and forgiveness. They seemed to provide me with what I spiritually needed as they gave me much needed hope and promise. Building on the credibility they achieved through their inspirational and emotive writings, my New Age authors and teachers would then go on to tell me that "God" was "in" everyone and everything.

I discovered that author William P. Young does exactly the same thing in The Shack. He moves through his very engaging and emotional story to eventually present this same New Age teaching that God is "in" everything.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me first provide some background material concerning this key New Age doctrine that "God is in everything." A good place to start is with Eugene Peterson, the author of the controversial Bible paraphrase The Message. After all, Peterson’s enthusiastic endorsement of The Shack is featured right under the author’s name on the front cover.

Ironically, it was Peterson’s endorsement that caused me to be immediately suspicious of this highprofile, bestselling "Christian" book. Through his questionable paraphrasing of the Bible, Peterson had already aligned himself in a number of areas with New Age/New Spirituality teachings. One obvious example was where he translated a key verse in the Lord’s Prayer to read "as above, so below" rather than "in earth, as it is in heaven." "As above, so below" was a term that I was very familiar with from my previous involvement in the New Age Movement. This esoteric saying has been an occult centerpiece for nearly five thousand years. It is alleged by New Age metaphysicians to be the key to all magic and all mysteries. It means that God is not only transcendent — "out there" — but He is also immanent — "in" everyone and everything.

But, as I found out just before abandoning the deceptive teachings of the New Age for the Truth of biblical Christianity, God is not "in" everyone and everything. The Bible makes it clear that man is not divine and that man is not God (Ezekiel 28:2, Hosea 11:9, John 2:24-25, etc.) In Deceived on Purpose: The New Age Implications of the Purpose-Driven Church, I quoted the editors of the New Age Journal as they defined "as above, so below" in their book, As Above, So Below:
"'As above, so below, as below, so above.' This maxim implies that the transcendent God beyond the physical universe and the immanent God within ourselves are one." (p. 32)

My concern about Peterson’s undiscerning use of "as above, so below" in the Lord’s Prayer was underscored when the 2006 bestseller, The Secret, showcased this same occult/New Age phrase. In fact, it was the introductory quote at the very beginning of the book. By immediately featuring "as above, so below" the author Rhonda Byrne was telling her readers in definite New Age language that "God is in everyone and everything." Towards the end of the book, The Secret puts into more practical words what the author initially meant by introducing the immanent concept of "as above, so below." On page 164 The Secret tells its readers — "You are God in a physical body."

Most significantly, in his book The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of Wisdom, New Age leader Benjamin Crème reveals that a New World Religion will be based on this foundational "as above, so below" teaching of immanence — this idea that God is "in" everyone and everything:
"But eventually a new world religion will be inaugurated which will be a fusion and synthesis of the approach of the East and the approach of the West. The Christ will bring together, not simply Christianity and Buddhism, but the concept of God transcendent — outside of His creation — and also the concept of God immanent in all creation — in man and all creation." (p. 88)

New Age matriarch Alice Bailey, in her book The Reappearance of the Christ, wrote:
"…a fresh orientation to divinity and to the acceptance of the fact of God Transcendent and God Immanent within every form of life. "These are foundational truths upon which the world religion of the future will rest." (p. 88)

In a November 9, 2003 Hour of Power sermon – just two months before he was a featured speaker at the annual meeting of the National Association of Evangelicals – Crystal Cathedral minister Robert Schuller unabashedly aligned himself with this same New Age/New World Religion teaching. The man who claims to have mentored thousands of pastors, including Bill Hybels and Rick Warren, stated:
"You know in theology — pardon me for using a couple of big words — but in theology the God we believe in, this God of Abraham, is a transcendent God. But He is also an immanent God. Transcendent means up there, out there, above us all. But God is also an immanent God — immanence of God and the transcendence of God — but then you have a balanced perspective of God. The immanence of God means here, in me, around me, in society, in the world, this God here, in the humanities, in the science, in the arts, sociology, in politics — the immanence of God…. Yes, God is alive and He is in every single human being!"

But God is not in every single human being. God is not in everything. One of the many reasons I wrote Deceived on Purpose was because Rick Warren presented his readers with this same "God in everything" teaching. Quoting an obviously flawed New Century Bible translation of Ephesians 4:6, Rick Warren — whether he meant to or not — was teaching his millions of readers the foundational doctrine of the New World Religion. Describing God in his book, The Purpose-Driven Life, he wrote:
"He rules everything and is everywhere and is in everything." (p. 88)

Compounding the matter further, "immanence" has been taught as part of the Foundations class at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church. An ill-defined reference to immanence on page 46 of the SaddlebackFoundations Participants Guide plays right into the hands of the New Spirituality/New World Religion by stating:
"The fact that God stands above and beyond his creation does not mean he stands outside his creation. He is both transcendent (above and beyond his creation) and immanent (within and throughout his creation)."

All of this discussion about "God in everything" immanence is to explain why The Shack is such a deceptive book. It teaches this same heresy. This book ostensibly attempts to deal with the deeply sensitive issues surrounding the murder of a young child. Because of the author’s intensely personal story line, most readers become engaged with the book on a deep emotional level. However, the author’s use of poetic license to convey his highly subjective, and often unbiblical, spiritual views becomes increasingly problematic as the story line develops. This is most apparent when he uses the person of "Jesus" to suddenly introduce the foundational teaching of the New Spirituality/New World Religion — God is "in" everything. Using the New Age term “ground of being” to describe “God,” the “Jesus” of The Shack states:
"God, who is the ground of all being, dwells in, around, and through all things…." (p. 112)

This false teaching about a "God" who "dwells in, around, and through all things" is the kind of New Age leaven that left unchallenged could leaven the church into the New Age/New Spirituality of the proposed New World Religion. And while many people have expressed a great deal of emotional attachment to The Shack and its characters — this leaven alone contaminates the whole book.

Clearly, the "Jesus" of The Shack is not Jesus Christ of the Bible. The apostle Paul chided the Corinthians and warned them that they were vulnerable and extremely susceptible to "another Jesus" and "another gospel" and "another spirit" that were not from God (2 Corinthians 2:11). In the Bible, the real Jesus Christ warned that spiritual deception would be a sign before His return. He further warned that there would be those who would even come in His name, pretending to be Him (Matthew 24:3-5;24).

Without ascribing any ill motive to William Young and his book The Shack, the author’s use of spiritual creativity seems to give a "Christian" assent to the New Age/New Spirituality of the proposed New World Religion. His mixing of truth and error can become very confusing to readers, and God is not the author of confusion (I Corinthians 14:33).

Dr. Harry Ironside, pastor of Chicago’s Moody Memorial Church from 1930-1948, emphasizes the fact that truth mixed with error results in "all error" — a direct refutation of the Emergent Church teaching to find "truth" wherever it may be found — including books like The Shack. Ironside wrote:
"Error is like leaven, of which we read, ‘A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.’ Truth mixed with error is equivalent to all error, except that it is more innocent looking and, therefore, more dangerous. God hates such a mixture! Any error, or any truth-and-error mixture, calls for definite exposure and repudiation. To condone such is to be unfaithful to God and His Word and treacherous to imperiled souls for whom Christ died." (quoted in The Berean Call, April 2008)

The Shack has touched the hearts and emotions of many people. While there are many other examples of the author’s unbiblical liberality, introducing the heretical New Age teaching that "God dwells in, and around, and through all things" is in and by itself enough to completely undermine any value the book might otherwise have for faithful believers. To allow yourself to get carried away by this story, while disregarding the book’s New Age/New Spirituality leaven, is to fall prey to the "truth-and-error" mixture that pervades The Shack. And as Dr. Ironside warned — "God hates such a mixture."

Before Christians buy one more copy of this book, they need to come to terms with what this author is ultimately teaching and what it is they are passing along to their friends and fellow believers.

The Truth: "And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." (1 Timothy 4:4)

Warren Smith is the author of numerous articles and books on the topic of the New Age/New Spirituality and how it is entering the evangelical church.
Deceived on Purpose: The New Age Implications of the Purpose-Driven Church
The Light that was Dark: From the New Age to Amazing Grace
Reinventing Jesus Christ: The New Gospel
posted by Discernment Research Group @ 6/21/2008 08:53:00 AM

Let's all be Bereans and test what we read, irrespective of whether it is fiction or not.

God bless,
Glyn

THE JESUS DRIVEN LIFE

2007-11-10T11:50:00.002+02:00

The biggest questions of all time certainly have to be, “Why am I here” or “What is my purpose in life?” On the surface, they do not seem like such bad questions, after all, the Bible does tell us that God has a plan for everyone's life (e.g. Jeremiah 29:11). But what is our purpose? Through this topic I am going to uncover what, or rather, who is meant to be driving our lives.

The modern trend
A cursory glance at the books on shop bookshelves and programmes on so-called Christian TV channels, reveal a trend in the church that is not only scary, but extremely dangerous. A trend that I call the Feel Good Faith. The main focus of this trend is self-help. It is designed to help people find themselves, their purpose, and to enjoy everyday life at the expense of righteousness.

There are 4 basic tenets evident in these teachings:

Happiness has taken the place of holiness

Prosperity the place of providence

Feelings in place of faith

Me, myself and I in place of the Holy Trinity

We are taught first to be lovers of ourselves, then others, then the world, and only then, if there is room left, whatever your concept of God is. In fact, we are taught that we are little gods ourselves, and will eventually become rulers of our own worlds.

These may seem to be a rather obvious perversions of the truth of the Bible, however, they have infiltrated the church with such subtlety that we have not recognised them for what they truly are, lies of the devil. I am not saying that their teachings are 100% false, but if you make a cake with the best quality ingredients available, mix in some of the best quality cyanide, it does not make the cake any more safe than if you used rotten ingredients. The cyanide in there is still going to kill you. The same is true of the teachings in the church. The fact that some of the best ingredients are there, does not negate the damaging effects of the cyanide that they contain. They will still affect you, and you will not realise it until it is too late.

To be perfectly honest, many of the teachings are not based in scripture, no matter what they try and tell you. They come from New Age, Buddhism, and the business world. Yes, they may quote Bible verses, but these verses have been found to support their teachings (called proof texts) and are taken out of context. Many times they are even misquoted, and also taken from paraphrase versions of the Bible that are 90% of the time out of context with the original text and meaning of the passage anyway (e.g. The Message). Some even go so far as to rewrite the verses to say what the preacher wants them to say.

Paul talks about these kind of people in the book of Philippians: “Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things” (3:19). This verse is quite self-explanatory. Their desires are solely driven by their human desires and hunger. They do not seek after the things of God, they are wanting only what can satisfy them there and then. They are not concerned with righteousness or their eternity.

Being driven by Jesus
So what then is our purpose in life? What or who should be driving us? Quite simply, Jesus should be driving us. We are called to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him. If we first look after ourselves, we will in fact lose ourselves (Matthew 16:24-25). But if we seek first his kingdom, and his righteousness, we will find life. We will find our purpose, our supply of the things we need in life, and true peace, to name but a few (cf. Matthew 6:25-34). The things that God desires of us will become our desires, and not the other way around as is taught by today's false doctrines.

We need to be like Christ in all aspects of our lives. Putting aside the desires of the flesh, not trying to live an enjoyable life without the hassles we are told will come as children of God. We are not called to live our best life now, but rather a life dedicated to God, filled with the trials and tribulations that dedication brings, and then when Christ comes again we will be called to live with him forever. Living a life that will be better than we could ever hope to imagine. The things of this world are a poor reflection of the things of God, but when we join Christ in heaven, all will be revealed to us and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Conclusion
The things that we are being taught from the pulpit in many of the mega-churches, and on the TV, come from the devil, and not from God. DO NOT try to sift the wheat from the chaff of these teachers, for their poison is so subtle it will easily slip through the holes. Rather, avoid them altogether. If you are following any of the teachings I am talking about here, and I am sure I do not need to mention them by name, repent and turn back to the God of the Bible. By living a Jesus driven life God will give you the best life you could ever wish for, with much joy that nobody can steal from you.

NOTE: If you would like to know more about the teachings I am talking about here, please e-mail me and I will send you more specific information about them.

Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW

An Old Fashioned Doctrine

2007-11-03T09:34:00.000+02:00

WOULD JESUS OPPOSE THE DEATH PENALTY?

2007-10-08T16:56:00.001+02:00

One of the most contentious issues facing us today is that of the death penalty. There are many theologians that fight their point vehemently on both sides of the argument. I remember while in Bible College there were people on both sides of the fence and no resolution was ever reached. For many years I sat on the fence with the whole issue, but having worked through the whole issue of the law and its application today, I have come to a final decision. So in this final instalment of the role of the law, we are going to look at the issue and hopefully end off with a proper position on the subject. Some of you may be surprised with the outcome.

Mosaic Law
Throughout the Old Testament we see a very clear stance with the death penalty. It was in place and strongly enforced. Then Jesus came along. Many believe that it is at this point that Jesus abolished the Old Testament laws and the punishments that went with it. However, as we have already discovered, Jesus did not come to remove the law, but to fulfil it. As he said in Matthew 5:17-18, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets: I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” If then he did not come to destroy the law, he also did not come to destroy the consequences. As such, he would therefore have supported the death penalty.

Let us look at a simple example in Christ's life that many seem to believe proves that Jesus was opposed to the death penalty: John 8:3-11.

The Woman Taken in Adultery
Let us begin by putting this passage into context. In the passage before the one we are looking at, Jesus had spoken about being sent to earth by the Father and that the people of Israel did not know the Father, but he did. Then it goes on to talk about the unbelief of the Jewish leaders and as far as they were concerned, Jesus had deceived the people. So now, in the verses of our passage, the Pharisees and Scribes sought out to find something against Jesus, and their method was to present a problem to Jesus in a manner that no matter what way Jesus would respond, it would hurt him (at least in their eyes anyway).

So they presented to Jesus a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery and reminded him that “In the Law Moses commended us to stone such women,” and challenged him to what he would say. Now if Jesus had upheld the Law, Jesus would have been portrayed as cruel and not a man of love as he was proving himself to be, and if he made an exception to the Law, he would have been blatantly breaking the Law. Either way, his bond with the people would have been broken.

But look at Jesus' response. He bent down, wrote something with his finger in the dirt on the ground. We are not told what he wrote, but it could been something as simple as the Ten Commandments. But the Pharisees continued to press him for an answer, so he said: “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her,” and bent down and continued writing.

There is an interesting thing to note here. Adultery is a two-person sin, yet only the woman was brought before Jesus. This in itself is already a violation of the law as Leviticus 20:10 clearly states that both parties are to be put to death, not just one.

Then, one by one, beginning with the eldest person in the crowd, people started to leave, until there was no-one left there except Jesus and the accused woman. Without any accusers, there was no required penalty. Jesus had pointed to the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Scribes, while at the same time, showing his love to a person considered unloved. He then told the woman to go and sin no more.

This is a beautiful illustration of the grace of God, and many theologians have used it to show that Jesus was opposed to the death penalty. Nothing could be further from the truth. Let us look at another passage that shows that in actual fact Jesus supported the death penalty: Matthew 15:1-20.

Clean and unclean
In this passage, Jesus is challenged again by the Scribes and Pharisees, this time challenging him on the issue of his disciples not washing their hands before eating. Here Jesus answered: “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of tradition? For God said, 'Honour your father and mother and anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.” Jesus then goes on to describe how the Pharisees allowed someone to hold back needed help for their parents by saying the dedication of their possessions, that should have been used to care for their parents, to the temple before their parents died, freed them from caring for their parents. Jesus was showing them that they had dishonoured their parents by enforcing man-made laws instead of God's Law, and the punishment in this case was that the offender be put to death. Jesus was in no way opposing the death penalty here, but could actually be seen as requiring it.

Finally, let's look at the life of Paul.

Follow me as I follow Christ
In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul told the Corinthian church to “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” Paul was not without sin, but he was meticulous in his service to God, and as we can see in this example, he was careful to follow the life of Christ. Therefore, if Christ had been opposed to the death penalty then Paul would have been too in his teachings. Instead when facing his accuser Felix (Acts 24), he answered “If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!” Paul was willing to suffer the death penalty should he have been found guilty of anything worthy of it, and was showing that the government had the right to administer such a penalty.

Furthermore, in Romans 13 Paul states that the government are ordained by God and hold their position because God has placed them there. Irrespective of whether they are good or bad leaders. Then comes a warning: “For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer” (v4). Why would the government bear a sword and be called an agent of wrath if the death penalty was not to be enforced? I don't think that they are going to merely use it to smack you on the backside for doing something wrong, but rather administer something far more serious – the death penalty.

Nor is the word sword used merely as a picture to represent their authority. That point is already clearly expressed in the preceding verses. There are also no pictures used in these verses, but rather stated clear examples of the government's authority in legal words. If the sword is merely a representation, then so is the word taxes, yet taxes were as much a reality for the early church as it is for us today.

Jesus clearly supported the death penalty, and this is seen throughout Scripture. He may not have said much about it, but he certainly did not say anything against it. When he comes again, he will be coming as the judge and will execute the death penalty to its fullest (see Revelation 19).

Conclusion
The crux of the matter for us today has absolutely nothing to do with the teachings of Scripture, but rather man's carnal thinking. Man is wanting the gentle Jesus meek and mild, friend of the sinners, and not the righteous judge who overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple. Man wants a Jesus who will smile on fornicators, adulterers, homosexuals, hypocrites, thieves, liars etc. and not the Jesus who will come again to judge the living and the dead and throw the devil and his followers into the fiery pit of hell.

Basically, man is wanting “another Jesus”. As Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 11:4 - “For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough”. This Jesus they are teaching is essentially an anti-Christ (anti meaning in place of or opposite to) that is not the Christ of the Bible. We should warn believers of the same teachings in the church today.

Should we therefore try to have the government enforce the death penalty. That is a tough question to answer. Over the centuries there have been many examples of the state handing down a penalty that does not suite the crime, and in some of the more communist and autocratic regimes of today, that may not be a good idea. What is needed is a balance between the severity of the crime, with the severity of the punishment. If a person takes another person's life, then it is certainly worthy of the death penalty.

I believe that it is the duty of all Christians to ensure that appropriate justice is meted out. If the penalties are not matching the crime, either by being too harsh or not harsh enough, then we need to address the situation. If the death penalty is in place, then we need to support it, and if it is not, we need to stand for it and appeal to the powers that be to enforce it.

NOTE: Please be aware that this is such a deep and strongly fought topic and this article is by no means a complete presentation of all arguments. My aim here was to present as concise an argument as possible in relation to the Role of the Law as we have already discussed.

Next series: Feel Good Faith!
In the next series I plan to focus on some of the heresies being taught in the church today by some of the well known TV and mega-church preachers. These are mainly teachings that aim to make people “feel good” about themselves instead of preaching the true Gospel of Christ. Through these discussions I will present a more Biblical approach to life and our faith. The first topic in the series with be The Jesus Driven Life.

Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW

THE LAW AS THE SCHOOLMASTER

2007-07-07T08:48:00.000+02:00

Dispensationalists who teach that Old Testament law has been completely cancelled out by Christ, quote Galatians 3:23-25 as proof for their claim: "Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law." (The last phrase in the New King James Version translates as "we are no longer under a tutor.")

In order to fully understand this passage we need to answer two questions.

1) What does Paul mean by the term "law"? and
2) What does he mean when he says "we are no longer under a tutor"?

We need to keep in mind the context and history of the book of Galatians and the specific problems that Paul was addressing [See Justification and the Law]. One of the issues was that of the Judaizers who were teaching two serious doctrinal errors. They believed in salvation through Christ and human works, and they wanted Gentiles to first become Jews before becoming Christians. In essence they were teaching that the Gentiles had to first follow the Mosaic ceremonial laws before they were qualified to become Christians. It is this second error that is in Paul's mind when he condemns circumcision in Galatians 5:2-3, and also when he refers to the elements in Galatians 4:3, 9. "But now that you know God or rather are known by God how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you." (Galatians 4:9-11).

Therefore, because Paul is concerned with counteracting the Judaizers' view that Gentiles were to keep the whole system of Jewish ceremonial law, it is clear that he is speaking of law in terms of the Mosaic administration of God's covenant with the Jews. He is telling the Galatians why it is no longer necessary to follow the ceremonial laws of the old covenant.

What, then, does Paul mean when he says that those who have come to Christ are no longer under a tutor?

Given the meaning of law within this context, Paul is saying that the ceremonial law served as an instructor in salvation by grace. It taught the old covenant people of God about the perfect redemptive work of the coming Messiah through pictures (known theologically as types). But since Christ has come and offered himself as a perfect sacrifice "once for all" (Hebrews 10:10), the tutor is no longer needed. Under the old covenant, the Jews were saved by faith in the coming Messiah, and not by their works. However, this old covenant, with its pictures and ceremonies, was inferior to the new covenant. Paul is comparing the old covenant to the immature life of slavery under a tutor, with the new covenant where believers are described as sons, who are heirs of God (Galatians 4:1-7).

As John Calvin wrote in his commentary on Galatians and Ephesians, "A schoolmaster is not appointed for the whole life, but only for childhood, as etymology of the Greek word [paidagogos] implies. Besides, in training a child, the object is to prepare him, by the instructions of childhood, for maturer years. The comparison applies in both respects to the law, for its authority was limited to a particular age, and its whole object was to prepare its scholars in such a manner, that when its elementary instructions were closed, they might make progress worthy of manhood. And so he adds, that it was our schoolmaster [eis Christon] unto Christ. The grammarian, when he is trained as a boy, delivers him into the hands of another, who conducts him through the higher branches of a finished education. In like manner, the law was the grammar of theology, which, after carrying its scholars a short way, handed them over to faith to be completed. Thus, Paul compares the Jews to children, and us to advanced youth."

To put this a little clearer: when we were children in school, we needed teachers and headmasters to point us in the right direction and discipline us when necessary. Once we were fully instructed, we moved on, but are not to forget or neglect the things taught to us in school. Similarly; before we were in Christ, we needed a schoolmaster to point us in the right direction and discipline us. The Law is that schoolmaster. Once we have come to Christ, we move on, but are not to neglect or forget those things taught to us beforehand.

This then leads us to the question of; what Law are we no longer under?

The Law of works
After the fall of man in the garden of Eden, God has always dealt with man on the basis of the covenant of grace. Grace did not come only at the cross, it has always been there. It is just the direction one looks to the grace that has changed. In other words, from the fall in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), until the second coming of Christ, anyone who is saved, whether under the old covenant or the new, is saved by grace through faith. No one, can be saved by his own works of righteousness. Even the sacrifices of animals under the old covenant did not save "because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4). The sacrifices were pictures that pointed forward to Jesus Christ who "by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy" (Hebrews 10:14).

Galatians 3:21 teaches that the law of God is not against the promise. The law as a covenant was an expression of the covenant of grace. The ceremonies pointed to Jesus Christ and taught the people to trust in the shed blood of the coming Messiah (Isaiah 53:3-12), "the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29). The law of works - essentially the ceremonial laws - ended with the coming of Christ and the new covenant because it had served its purpose and was no longer needed. The pictures are replaced by the reality, Jesus Christ.

The Law of Sin and Death
Another manner in which believers are no longer under the law is that believers are not under the curse of the law - the Law of Sin and Death. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit." (Galatians 3:13-14).

Paul says that by Christ's death on the cross, believers are set free from the curse or penalty of the law which is due to us, for as God said, "The soul who sins is the one who will die" (Ezekiel 18:4b). John the Baptist declared that "whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." (John 3:36). Paul, by saying that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23), is showing us the just punishment of man by God. Man has no escape within his own power, or within the law (Galatians 3:21).

The sinner finds himself without escape; and the magnitude of his dilemma is revealed in the words, "for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."" (Galatians 3:10).

But, at the cross, Jesus Christ bore the guilt and the penalty for the sins of the world. The complete wrath of God that we deserve for our sins was placed upon Christ. However, just because Christ bore the judgement that we deserve does not mean that believers are no longer under law as a guide for daily living and the ongoing process of sanctification. Such a view is antinomianism (anti-law), for there is no sanctification by lawlessness.

The Law Convicts Sinful Man of Sin
The third way in which Christians are no longer under law is as a means of conviction to lead us to Christ. Paul says: "Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin." (Romans 3:19-20).

It is a mistake to argue that God's law is evil, unfair or harsh. The law is not the problem; man is. Man has an evil heart that loves sin. One of the reasons God has given the law is to expose sin in order to convict rebellious hearts. "What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good." (Romans 7:7-12).

We can see from Paul's personal experience he knew that the law convicted him of his sin. As a Pharisee, he was taught that keeping the law was an external matter that was achievable by man. By saying that he "was alive apart from the law" (v. 9) he is saying that without a biblical understanding of the internal aspect of keeping the law, he was deceiving himself and being self-righteous. But when the command "Do not covet" (v. 7) came into his consciousness, his self-righteousness came to an end. What Paul is actually referring to is to the original purpose of the law; to direct and regulate man's life in the path of righteousness and, therefore, to guard and promote life.

While still a Pharisee, Paul expected salvation through the law. He expected happiness and holiness, but instead he descended into the despair of guilt, condemnation, misery, wrath, and the displeasure of a righteous, just and holy God. "For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death." (Romans 7:11). Sin had deceived Paul, for what Paul wanted the law to do, it could not do. This was not because the law was defective, or because the law was evil, but because the law was not designed by God to secure our salvation.

This is the experience of every believer. He first turns to the law, to his own self-righteousness and strength, but he soon finds out that all the law can do is aggravate the guilt and misery. God uses the law as a mirror of man's heart. Once man knows his guilt and that he cannot obey the law, man is brought to his knees and runs to the cross of Christ. The burden of guilt is washed away by Christ's blood and his perfect righteousness. Once man has accepted this gift, the condemnation is removed, and he is no longer under that effect of the law.

However, it still serves its purpose of being a mirror of our sinful desires that keep rearing their ugly heads in our lives. The difference is that there is no longer any condemnation, but conviction of the Holy Spirit that guides us in righteousness.

Preparation of the Heart
Although the law does not save man, it does prepare the heart for the gift of grace. I believe that it is this function that Paul is referring to in Galatians 3:24, which then leads one to Christ for justification by faith. Before any man can receive the Lord Jesus Christ, he must be shown the sinful state he is in and that by his own power he cannot escape. The law exposes many areas of one's life which would not have otherwise been recognised as sin. It is essential to declare the ten commandments the holy standard of God in order to show the sinner his heart of hatred toward God and man. Only then will he be able to accept the grace of God in Jesus Christ to provide him with righteousness and love. As Walter Chantry put it, "It is the sharp needle of the law that makes way for the scarlet thread of the Gospel.

Next topic in the series: Would Jesus Oppose the Death Penalty?

Baruch atem b'Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW

SANCTIFICATION AND THE LAW

2007-06-13T09:36:00.000+02:00

Before we go any further in discussing the role of the Law, let us proceed to look at the issue of sanctification. “Why?” you may ask. Quite simply, because the issues of justification and sanctification cannot be separated from each other and need to be fully understood together. But before I can explain the connection properly, we first need to look at what the word sanctification means.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism defines sanctification as “the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.” In justification, once the sinner believes in Jesus, he/she is declared righteous before God purely on Jesus Christ's sacrificial death on the cross. The guilt of sin is removed and the sinner is clothed in the righteousness of Christ. At this point, the the lifelong process of sanctification immediately begins. This process is described by the theologian, Louis Berkhof as “that gracious and continuous operation of the Holy Spirit, by which He delivers the justified sinner from the pollution of sin, renews his whole nature in the image of God, and enables him to perform good works.”

Now we begin to understand why justification and sanctification cannot be separated. To hold to the idea that Jesus died on the cross to merely satisfy the Law so that Christians can still live a life of sin and loose morals, is complete heresy, and there are two basic reasons for this.

1) Christians are to unite with Christ in his death and resurrection, and through this unity, Christ breaks the power that sin has over all believers. As we are told by Paul in his letter to the Romans: “If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.” (6:5-7).

2) As we are told in Romans 8:9, when we accept Christ, we are also accepting the Holy Spirit and he begins to dwell in us. The Holy Spirit is called holy not only because he is distinguishable from the other spirits in the world, but also because he is set apart from the the other spirits, and is the source of holiness. It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to lead holy lives, evident through the fruits of the Spirit that we read about in Galatians 5. Therefore, those who have received Christ are first justified through the saving work of the cross, and are then sanctified through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It can never be the other way around. Why, because the Bible tells us over and over that man cannot achieve ethical perfection through our own works (cf 1 Kg. 8:46; Prov. 20:9; Rom. 3:10, 12; Jas. 3:2; 1 Jn. 1:8), and also because of what has already been stated that it is only through our receiving of Christ (Justification) that the Holy Spirit dwells in us (Sanctification).

Sanctification also involves the whole man, body, soul, heart and mind. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, our sinful lusts, desires and habits are progressively removed from our lives and we become more godly in our lives, in thought, word and deed. It is in this sense that we are able to come to God just as we are. He does not wait for us to clean ourselves up first, but instead he accepts us into the Kingdom through Jesus' saving work on the cross and then begins the work of cleansing us of all unrighteousness.

Where then does the Law fit in? Quite simply because the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to sanctify us, as is seen in the following verses:
John 17:17 - “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”
1 Peter 1:22 - “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth...”
1 Peter 2:2 - “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,”

The entire Bible guides us in righteousness unto sanctification. We learn and grow by what we learn in the Bible through the history, guidance, examples and teachings that it contains. Therefore, since sanctification is concerned with growth and conformity to God's Word, it is proper to focus on the moral laws (e.g. the Ten Commandments) laid down by God in scripture. It is through this law that sin is defined and pointed out to us. We as Christians need this Law in order to highlight the sin that we are to avoid, and the righteousness that we are to strive for. We are to hide the Word in our hearts so that it becomes part of us, allowing us to form new habits of righteousness.

Take heed to the words of the Psalmist in Psalm 119:
“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.” (v9)
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (v11)
“I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.” (vv15,16)
“Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart.” (vv33,34)

Many people in the church today will not like what I am saying here, and this is evident with many of the teachings today avoiding the whole issue of the Law. When last did you hear a sermon on the Law and your righteousness? To many of the post-modernist pastors and teachers in the church today, the whole issue of the Law is seen as being old fashioned and belonging to the old dispensation. What then is their source of authority for righteousness? Some would say that we are totally under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and not the Word of God (as proposed by the people of the Emergent Church – a totally new and scary issue in itself). Instead of following God's Word and meditating on his law as a guide to righteousness, they follow what they believe the Holy Spirit or God is directly telling them to do. I am sure you have heard many people say: “God told me to do this,” or “I was led by the Holy Spirit to do that.” This is a very subjective way of doing things and eventually leads to a viewpoint that there are no absolutes. How is one to judge these mystical promptings or inner feelings without the Word of God?

Many have quoted Galatians 5:16-18 to support their ideas of following the unctions of the Holy Spirit apart from the Law of God:
“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.”
But this is a gross misinterpretation of what Paul is saying.

To live or walk in the Spirit means to conduct one's life according to the Holy Spirit – separated from the world and relying on the Spirit as a source of one's righteousness. In no way is he opposing the Law as a guide for life, but rather that sanctification can only occur if the Spirit is living within us. Neither the Word of God, nor the Holy Spirit alone can sanctify us. It is a partnership of the two that guides us in all righteousness. The Law proves that we are sinners and are in rebellion against God, and is not giving us conditions for salvation. We are free from being condemned by the punishment of death because of our justification, and are continually purified through sanctification. The law does not in any way save us; only the Holy Spirit can do that. But, once we are saved, the Holy Spirit uses the Law to show us our sins and brings us to daily repentance and growth in holiness.

Pietism: The rejection of God’s law in sanctification has led to an unbiblical form of pietism. Pietism refers to the practice of defining holiness in terms of an emotional, subjective experience rather than obedience to God’s revealed law. The result: a man-centered faith.

Pietism leads Christians to a focus on revival and the salvation of individuals at the exclusion of the biblical reformation of society and culture.
Pietism leads to a mentality of God’s word being something for private devotions; it is something relegated to church buildings on Sunday mornings. The idea that God’s Word is to be applied to all areas of life and that nations must submit to the Lord Jesus Christ and obey his law is hated by most present-day believers.
Pietism leads to an ethical vacuum in individuals, churches and society.
Pietism leads to legalism, for the only alternative to rule by God’s law is some form of man-made law.

As a result one finds the Fundamentalist pastor ordering people in his congregation to dress a certain way or give a certain amount of time or money to the church; but does absolutely nothing to stop the advance of Satanism, abortion on demand, homosexuality, and so on, in society.

Because of many Christians not understanding the relationship between God’s law and sanctification, churches have become antinomian (anti-law). In their zeal to protect their concept of God's love, forgiveness and grace, they have discarded the law and called it obsolete. The result: most Christians cannot recite the Ten Commandments, Christian businessmen are no more trustworthy than their unsaved counterparts, the same amount of sexual immorality is practiced in the church as in the world, lack of tithing, no discipline, to name but a few.

An unbiblical view of God’s law and sanctification has even perverted the doctrine of justification itself. If the law itself is totally obsolete, and is relegated to a former dispensation, then it becomes unnecessary for Christ to have died to satisfy the same law. Where the Law is removed, justification becomes unnecessary because an antinomian religion has no need of a judicial act of God to effect salvation. An antinomian religion will replace the word “justify” with saved, and look only at the results rather than the way to those results. Instead of saying, “I know I am saved, because Christ died for my sins, and, apart from any good thing in me, or faith in me, by his sovereign grace pardoned my sins and redeemed me,” modern Christians are saying, “I know I am saved, because I believe in Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Saviour.”

The most common altar call today is something like: “ask Jesus to be your personal saviour,” or, “ask Jesus to come into your heart,” or, my personal favourite, “you have a God shaped hole in your heart and God wants to fill it”. The Bible does not tell unbelievers to ask Christ into their heart, but rather to trust in him and his completed work. Not only that, but Jesus Christ, ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father. The Holy Spirit is the one who enters our heart at the moment we place our trust in Christ.

The importance of God’s law-word for sanctification must be emphasised today because of the popularity of mysticism, subjectivism, existentialism, antinomianism and pietism. Christians who believe that sanctification occurs apart from God’s law are deceived. If one desires to be more holy, one must study, memorize, meditate on, and love God’s holy law.

“Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. ... Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long” (Psalm 119:33, 97).

FINAL THOUGHT
I will leave you with this final thought that I received in an e-mail some time back:

The following is reported to be a true story someone found regarding exams at Cambridge University. It seems that during an examination one day a bright young student popped up and asked the proctor to bring him Cakes and Ale. The following dialogue ensued:
Proctor: I beg your pardon?
Student: Sir, I request that you bring me Cakes and Ale.
Proctor: Sorry, no.
Student: Sir, I really must insist. I request and require that you bring me Cakes and Ale.

At this point, the student produced a copy of the four-hundred-year old laws of Cambridge, written in Latin and still nominally in effect, and pointed to the section which read (roughly translated): “Gentlemen sitting examinations may request and require Cakes and Ale.” Pepsi and hamburgers were judged the modern equivalent, and the student sat there, writing his examination and happily slurping away.

Three weeks later, the student was fined five pounds for not wearing a sword to the examination.

When we study the law, we are sometimes careful to find those things which may benefit us, while trying to ignore the rest, and it happens with the Bible all the time. Ever known anybody who only quoted the Bible when it was convenient for them? They want to get their “cakes and ale” but ignore the part about “wearing a sword”? God's Word is not like a cafeteria. We are not allowed to go through and pick out which parts we want and which parts we do not like.

“For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, 'Do not commit adultery,' also said, 'Do not murder.' If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgement without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgement!” (James 2:10-13).

Next topic in the series: The Law as the Schoolmaster.

Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW

JUSTIFICATION AND THE LAW

2007-04-19T09:22:00.000+02:00

Dispensational "scholars" use a number of Paul's passages to argue that Jesus cancelled the Old Testament laws and that law is no longer needed. Let us briefly look at a couple of these passages:

EPHESIANS

We have been saved by grace, through faith in Christ Jesus.

One passage used is Ephesians 2:8-10 - "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Let us begin by looking at the word translated as "saved" (Gk. sozo). This word is best understood when we remove all religious connotations and look at its root meaning: that is to be "rescued". To save someone simply means to rescue them from a situation that put them into danger, or would have resulted in something fatal happening to them, like a lifesaver rescuing someone from drowning in the sea. So, in the spiritual context, it means that we have been "rescued" from our previous condition that has fatal consequences.

And what are the consequences of our previous condition? Quite simply, death and spending eternity separated from God in the fiery pit of hell.

So then how do we solve the problem that the Dispensationalists pose? Well, let us first put the verses into context by looking at the preceeding verses:
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:1-7)

OUR PREVIOUSLY SINFUL CONDITION

In verses 1-3 we see what our condition was as a non-believer:

Dead in our transgressions and sins (v1)
When God created man in Genesis 1, we see that man was open to the things of God, however, since the fall and our repeated sins and transgressions of God's holy principles, our spirit has died and we have become unperceptive. We have become absent of all spiritual life as it pertains to the things of God.
Follow the ways of this world (v2)
No matter how good we think we are, or how different we believe we are to the current culture, in actuality we have absorbed the spirit of the age and have internalised its corrupt values and distorted worldview.
Follow the ways of the ruler of the kingdom of the air (v2)
In effect, followers of Satan. Even though we are not Satanists, we have all been duped into to a pride and attitude towards God that has its origins in the rebellious serpent of the Garden of Eden (cf Genesis 3:1-7). We so readily respond to his tempting whispers and think of them as our own thoughts. No matter how much we try to convince ourselves otherwise, we have all come under his influence one way or the other and are marching to his drumbeat, instead of God's.
Gratifying the cravings of the sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts (v3)
We have become self-indulgent. The focus is on our own desires, wants and lusts of the flesh. This has allowed us to become filled with hate and greed, which then develops into a self-destructiveness. Like a cord beginning to spiral, winding about ourselves, with the end becoming shorter and shorter as it wraps around the central pole, until the focus is so inward to an emptiness that is the internal symptom of being spiritually dead.
Objects of wrath by nature (v3)
No matter how much God loves us, there is still the part of him that is the epitome of justice and fairness that recognises our rebellion for what it is, and passes judgement on our sins, and on us. We are loved, but under a sentence of death. We are rebels waiting for our final day in court when we stand before the Great White Throne of judgement of God (Revelation 20:11-15) when our final sentence will be handed down and executed upon us, with no way of appeal.

We have turned to our own desires like overgrown children, delinquents that will be judged as adults in a criminal court.
It is only once we realise just how dark and rebelious a state we are in, do we see the grace and love of God shining through in all its brilliance. In no way do we deserve God's favour. We are like the prodigal son, desperate to leave home and go our own way. Leaving behind the care, directions and thoughts of our Father. We have turned to our own desires like overgrown children, delinquents that will be judged as adults in a criminal court.

Now that we understand what it is we have to be saved from, let us look at the result of God's saving grace.

OUR NEW CONDITION

Verse 4 then shifts the focus from what our sinful condition is, to the blessings we will receive in Christ Jesus:

His great love for us (v4)
His richness of mercy (v4)
Being alive together with Christ (v5)
Elevated to a place of spiritual authority and position (v6)
Being shown eternal kindness through Christ Jesus (v7)

If you want to see the grace of God in all its spleandour and clarity, compare these blessings to what we deserve as sinners. Even without doing a proper study into the punishment due to us, it is plain to see just how amazing God's grace is.

This then brings us to the verses at the beginning of this article.

WORKING OUR WAY TO SALVATION

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." (vv8,9)

The Apostle Paul was raised as a strict Pharisee, whose highest value was strict obedience to the Torah. If he obeyed, then he was righteous, and if he disobeyed, he was unrighteous. There was only black or white. The Judaism in the Bible during the time of Jesus and Paul had reduced the principles of God's laws into inflexible, and often petty, rules. In essence Phariseeism put up a wall around the Torah. If you did not break the petty rules that they enforced, then you would be prevented from breaking the actual laws of the Torah.

However, as time progressed, these petty rules were mistaken to be the law of God itself. They even substituted the very name of God with other names or words so as not to offend him in any way or to take his name in vain. When the name of God (Yahweh) appeared in the texts, this was replaced with Lord (Yahowah - commonly pronounced Jehovah). The name Yahowah actually came from the consonants of Yahwah - YHWH - and the vowels of Adonai - AOA - YOHOWAH.

To illustrate this point, take a look at Exodus 23:19b: "Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk". When read in context, this verse was obviously intended to instill some sense of mercy towards the animals one was butchering for food. However, Judaism had turned it into a system of keeping a Kosher kitchen; with one set of pots and pans used for dairy products, and a completely different set used for meat products, lest they inadvertently boiled a kid in its mother's milk.

SELF-SERVING RIGHTEOUSNESS

The Judaism of Paul's time had degenerated from faithfulness to God's principles to a strict adherence to rules made by man. This was then elevated to a system of earned righteousness before God. By their right actions, they had earned favour from God. It did not matter that their hearts were self-centered and selfish, they were righteous according to the law, and that was all that mattered. This is what Paul is referring to in verse 9 when he says that we have been saved "not by works, so that no one can boast". Paul, as a Christian, is giving up "a righteousness of my own that comes from the law" (Philippians 3:9) in order to embraces the righteousness that comes from God that is by faith.

God's favour is not earned by the superficial observance of religious rules.

Be careful here not to fall into the trap and misinterpret this to say that Paul is lawless, but instead he has come to understand that God's favour is not earned by the superficial observance of religious rules. He was the righteous murderer of Christians, but had received mercy from the one he was persecuting (Acts 9). He came to an understanding of his own dark and sinful heart, and the emptiness of religion based on outward rules, while at the same time having a self-centered, rather than God-centered, motivation.

GALATIANS

The second reference used by the Dispensationalists come from the book of Galatians. Before we look at the individual verses, let us set some foundations to the book:

Context: Firstly, the context of the book of Galatians is important. Paul was writing to the church in Galatia to help them deal with Judaisers within the church.

The Judaisers were those who taught that the Gentiles had to first be circumcised and become Jews before they could become Christians. We see another reference to this in the book of Acts - "And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren 'Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.'" (15:1)

This teaching is unbiblical for two reasons:

In order for a Gentile to become a Christian, he first had to become a Jew in terms of the old ceremonial laws, and
In order to be saved, believers must adhere strictly to the law.

Throughout the book of Galatians, Paul was therefore trying to explain the proper understanding of salvation and the true purpose of the Old Testament laws.

Galatians 2:16: "knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified."

This verse also needs to be looked at in relation to verse 19: "For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God". What Paul is referring to is that the law showed him that he was dead in his sin and that he could not save himself through his observance of the law. Paul, like everyone else, was unable to meet the standards set by the law. Instead, what the law does is show us that we are all sinners and are unable in any way to save ourselves. It points us in the right direction to life. As Paul goes on to say in 3:24 - "Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith." [We will look closer at this in the next topic]

What Paul is trying to emphasise here is that it is Christ who saves, and not the law: "I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain". In other words, if obedience to the law was enough to achieve a perfect righteousness that enables one to be able to stand faultless in the holy presence of God, then there would have been no need for Christ to have died on the cross.

Notice that Paul is not saying justification, but rather righteousness comes through Christ. It is essential to understand the difference. Justification is the process of being made righteous. Obedience to the law is not what makes one righteous, but rather faith in Christ Jesus and what he did to make us righteous. Therefore, faith in Christ is what takes us through the process of justification. In no way is Paul overriding the law in favour of faith, but rather that the law points us in the right direction to see our need for Christ and to accept his sacrifice for us once for all upon the cross.

Galatians 3:2-3: "This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?" (NB: Remember that in 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 8, Paul teaches that baptism in the Holy Spirit and becoming a Christian go hand-in-hand.)

This portion is interpreted by the Dispensationalists to refer rather to sanctification than justification. They argue that Paul is stating that the Old Testament law has no place in the sanctification of believers. In verse 2 Paul is stating that it is only possible to become a Christian and receive the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ Jesus. He is simply stating that no-one ever received the Holy Spirit through works of righteousness.

Paul then goes on to compare the Spirit and the flesh, and points out the absurdity of the Judaisers. If faith in Jesus Christ alone was enough for the gentiles to become Christians and receive the Holy Spirit, why then were the Judaisers forcing them to seek perfect righteousness through acts of merit? The Judaisers had taught the Galatians to seek perfection by trusting in the flesh, rather than trusting in the Spirit of God. In a nutshell, Paul was teaching that to base one's hope in the use of Old Testament law apart from Christ, one is placing their trust in the flesh and not in God.

CONCLUSION

Through the law, sin is revealed to us, and points us to the cross of Calvary.

We have only really touched the tip of the iceberg here, but we can already see that to entertain the idea from these and other verses in Paul's writings that he is teaching that the Old Testament laws have no place in the Christian life is absurd. Paul was merely arguing the fact that through the law, sin is revealed to us, and points us to the cross of Calvary.

As Paul also states in Romans 3:20 - "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin."

And in 1 Timothy 1:8 - "But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully".

I trust that this post has answered some of your questions dealing with Justification and the Law.

Next topic in the series: Sanctification and the Law.

Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW

THE ROLE OF THE LAW

2007-04-03T17:37:00.000+02:00

The modern century church seems to have neglected, and at times perverted, the Biblical teachings of God's law. The reasons for this are varied, but one of the biggest is due to the teachings of Dispensationalism.

Dispensationalism teaches that all Old Testament law (this includes religious, social and civil) have been put aside by Christ and his teachings concerning law. Their motto comes from Paul's teaching that “we are not under law, but under grace.”

It is impossible to fully understand the true Gospel, without first fully comprehending God's nature, law, and sin.

Gone are the days of sermons like “Sinners in the Hands of an angry God” by Jonathan Edwards, and others by great men of God like Spurgeon, Moody and Whitefield. Instead, all we hear from the pulpit are teachings of peace, happiness and being friends with God. What this effectively does is replace the Gospel of true repentance, with one that is anti-law (known as antinomian). But it is impossible to fully understand the true Gospel, without first fully comprehending God's nature, law, and sin.

The focus has also shifted from saving nations and cultures, to that of saving individuals or souls. The church has left the state of the nations to the governments running them – essentially in the hands of Satan. When Paul and the apostles went out, they concentrated on changing the nation as a whole, while today's evangelists and missionaries focus on the individual people and do nothing with trying to change the governments and religious leaders. If the church is lax with respect to the law, will not the rest of the people follow suit? Civil, moral and judicial law cannot be divorced from Biblical law, for Biblical law includes all law, whether civil, moral, ethical, societal, church, family, and all other forms of law. Look at what Jesus said in Matthew 28:18ff - “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” - not souls/individuals. We are to focus on nations, cultures, races, ethnic groups, etc as a whole, and not just individuals within those groups.

Before we continue to look at the role of the law, let us look at the different types of law found in Scripture. Law is used in different ways, and to apply it one way in all circumstances would be wrong, and even heretical.

Torah: This is the first and most basic word for law in the Old Testament, and even in religious tradition. This is basically the covenant between God and Israel. It contained everything that was essential to the life of the Jews. It contained the promises of God, curses, blessings and any other laws applicable to that covenant relationship.

Ceremonial Law: Even though the laws in the Old Testament are not systematically laid out, there are still some distinct categories. The first being ceremonial law.

The ceremonial laws were those that referred to the sacrificial rituals that were to be practised in the tabernacle and later in the temple. These laws included: the sacrifices, the holy days/sabbaths, the furnishings of the tabernacle and temple, circumcision, etc.

These laws were there in order to strengthen the faith of the Jews and were to be a picture of the coming Messiah. Their function was to restore the people of Israel back to God, for they reflected his mercy and salvation.

These laws were also intended to be temporary, for they were merely types and shadows of the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. Sin could not really be removed through the sacrifices, but they were to be a picture of true salvation. From the time of the fall in Genesis 3, God had always intended to bring complete salvation through the shedding of his son's blood. (Read the book of Hebrews and you will see the full explanation of these things by the writer to the Christian Jews.)

Finally, the ceremonial laws were put into place in order to differentiate the people of Israel from their pagan neighbours. While the pagan ceremonies were focussed on the individual and what they could receive, the ceremonies of the Jews were focussed on God.

Moral Law: These laws are those that reflect the very nature of God as the absolute standard of righteousness. Because we know that God will not change, these laws too will not change, even by God himself. Like God, they are perfect and everlasting.

God's entire moral, perfect standard is completely represented in the Ten Commandments

The moral laws are summarised in the Ten Commandments. In Scripture, the number ten indicates completeness or fullness. Also, as we read in Exodus, the Commandments were written on both sides of the tablets (32:15), and more importantly by the finger of God (31:18). Therefore, God's entire moral, perfect standard is completely represented in the Ten Commandments, and nothing was to be added or removed by man.

Moral laws were not put in place to prevent us from having fun, but rather to give us a blueprint of true righteousness as we endeavour to be more holy. These laws were therefore put in place forever, and were not temporary as were the ceremonial laws.

Judicial Law: The third, and final, category of Biblical law is that of judicial law. The purpose of these laws were to put some flesh onto the ceremonial and moral laws. As with those laws, some were binding only for the people of Israel, but others were binding on all nations. Some were temporary, while others are permanent.

In the modern church, many Christians believe that we are still bound by the Ten Commandments, yet are not bound by all the other civil laws, even those based on the very nature and character of God. Many believe that because the rest of the laws were written by men, but the Ten Commandments were written by the finger of God, the rest are not applicable. But like I have already pointed out, the Ten Commandments are a summary of all the laws, the rest of the laws, the judicial laws, are fleshing them out.

Another argument is that the laws were relevant for a culture that is far different from the one that exists today. Yes, it is true that today's culture is different from the culture of Israel 4000 years ago, but the character of God has not changed, so those laws based on that still stand.

This then leaves four solutions to the problem:
1. All law is relevant only to the culture in which it is found,
2. Some laws fall into a new category of natural law (conscience) and that we are not bound by God's laws,
3. To attempt to form our own laws based on the Ten Commandments and those laws repeated in the New Testament, and
4. Stick to the moral laws as laid down throughout Scripture that reflect the very nature of God.

To attempt the first three would mean that the Word of God is not inspired and infallible, but is merely a good book to read for some direction.

Do the laws of God apply to us today? Are the powers that be obligated to follow the moral laws laid down in Scripture? Are we as Christians obligated to follow the moral laws, or to simply follow the Spirit's guidance in a subjective and mystical sense? One word answers all three questions: YES.

Law in the New Testament: When we read of the laws in the New Testament, we are not really seeing anything new, but rather the laws of the Old Testament being fleshed out in a new way. Just as the Old Testament laws pointed the people of Israel forward to the coming Messiah, the laws in the New Testament points the church back to Christ. The old ceremonial laws have been replaced with ones that represent what Christ has done, and the moral laws are still focussed on the character of God and his commandments.

In Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus clearly states that he “did not come to destroy but to fulfill” the law, for “till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or tittle will by no means pass from the law until all is fulfilled.” As we have seen, the ceremonial laws have been fulfilled, but the moral laws are still to be completed, and that will come on the day of judgement.

It is my hope that through this series, we will all begin to focus on the Biblical laws so that we can go out and make a change in the society in which we live. This is such a large topic, so we will cover the role of the law over a number of posts. Comments and questions are more than welcome.

Next topic in the series: Justification and the Law.

Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW

TRUE vs FALSE CONVERSION

2007-03-28T09:19:00.000+02:00

There are so many people in the church today that believe that the Truth of God's Word is not enough to bring people into repentance. Some believe that we have to exhibit some kind of miraculous signs and wonders in order to convince the unbelievers of the Truth in the Word. Others try to dress it up in a way that makes it culturally relevant or “seeker sensitive”. Many believe that without some or other gimmick, the message of the Gospel will not reach its target. The church is desperately trying to find new ways of offering what the non-believers say they are looking for in the church. Every conventional form of worship is at risk of being put aside for more “relevant” forms in order to cater for the worlds appetites. Things that challenge or make people uncomfortable is not permitted. And it seems to be working. Or is it?

Statistics prove that 90% of the people who “make a decision” for Christ, are still lost a year later. Churches are bragging that they have brought 10,000 people to Christ in a year. But how many of them are still in the church a year later. And if they are still in the church, what is their faith really like? The problem with using these methods and dressing up the Truth is that it does not convict people of their sin. In fact, the very subject of sin is not even addressed half the time. But how can you deal with salvation and invite someone to come to Christ, if they do not know what it is they are being saved from? You cannot deal with the one side without dealing with the other.

Here is a perfect example from an experience I had last year:
My wife and I attended a concert by one of the big international praise and worship bands at a church that prides itself on being up-to-date in its methods. To be honest, I did not feel comfortable in that place, and the Truth was not evident – at least not to either of us. When they did the announcements, they were displayed on the big screen, and if you wanted more information about a particular item, you had to just SMS a key word to their number, and the info would be SMS'd back to you. Through the whole thing I was expecting them to say, “and that's not all. SMS now and we will also give you...” like you hear on the telesales ads on TV.

Then when that church's band performed as the “opening act”, you could not hear the words they were singing, and it looked more like a music video on the screen where the words appeared for you to sing along. When the “main act” came onto stage, their ministry was great, but the church's on-screen footage was quite distracting and you ended up watching that instead of being involved in the worship itself. Forty-five minutes later when the church's senior pastor came on stage to do the altar call, there was no real teaching on salvation. In the three minutes he was on stage, all he really said was, “whoever wants to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, put up your hand and we will pray for you”. They were invited to the front (of which probably only about two-thirds of them went to the front), prayed for again, and then lead off to a separate room for individual counselling. At least half of those returned to their seats without going to the other room. There was nothing about what it means to have a True relationship with Christ. No message of salvation and the need to be saved. Nothing was even mentioned of Christ's death on the cross.

This is a perfect example of what I am talking about where the Gospel is dressed up to suit the masses. How many of those people at that church left that night really knowing Christ? (this is one of the churches that boasts 10,000 decisions a year for Christ) True, the angels rejoice over just one person who is saved, but I cannot help but wonder, what is the true motive of this church? Is it to bring people to a True relationship with Christ, or to be able to boast the number of “decisions made” in a year?

Here are a couple of quotes from two men who experienced great revivals during their lives that clearly highlight what I am saying:

"Lower the Law, and you dim the light by which man perceives his guilt. This is a very serious loss to the sinner, rather than a gain; for it lessens the likelihood of his conviction and conversion ... I say you have deprived the gospel of its ablest auxiliary [most powerful weapon] when you have set aside the Law. You have taken away from it the schoolmaster that is to bring men to Christ ... they will never accept grace till they tremble before a just and holy Law. Therefore the Law serves a most necessary and blessed purpose and it must not be removed from its place." - Charles Haddon Spurgeon (square brackets mine)

And:

"If you have an unconverted sinner, convict him. If you have a convicted sinner, convert him." - Charles Finney.

What both of these men are trying to say here is that without the law, you cannot have true conviction of sin, and without true conviction, you cannot have true conversion. This is a very biblical standpoint, check out the following verses:

"Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin" - Romans 3:19,20.
"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet"." - Romans 7:7
"Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith" - Galatians 3:24

What then is the law that Spurgeon and Paul is talking? Quite simply; the Ten Commandments, among many others that appear in Scripture. Here is a challenge, how many of you can quote the Ten Commandments from memory? And how many of them have you broken? Be honest! Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever stolen something - no matter how small and insignificant? Have you ever committed adultery? You may not think you have, but as Jesus said, if a man looks at a women lustfully he has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:28). I am sure most of us (sorry, all of us) have done each 1 of the 3 mentioned, and there are still 7 commandments to go. That makes us all lying, adulterous theives at heart. It also means that we are all going to hell. But there is a way out, Jesus. By being convicted of our sin, we are now ready to come to him in faith and receive his gift of grace for us, and that is what the men above are trying to tell us.

The fact of the matter is, if you are unsaved, coming to Christ in the hope that you are going to experience a better life is futile. Trust me, 1 or 2 years down the line, chances are good that you will no longer be a Christian, and if you have left the church, will more than likely never want to be one again. But if you come to Christ, having been convicted of your sin, kneeling before the cross in true repentance, ready to accept the gift of grace freely given by God, chances are you will still be a Christian in 1, 2 even 50 years time.

Here are the Ten Commandments that God gave us. How well do you measure up?

You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them.
You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
Honour your father and your mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false testimony against your neighbour.
You shall not covet the possessions of others.

I am sure that this topic will raise many questions about conversion, evengelism and the place of modern methods within the church. Feel free to raise anything.

I will leave you with this thought taken from Hebrews 4:12-13: “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

Looking forward to your comments.

Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW

WELCOME

2007-03-21T17:03:00.000+02:00

The question of Pontius Pilate to Jesus, “What is truth?”, is still doing its rounds today. In fact, now more than ever, the issue of truth has been mishandled more than in any other generation. For us as Christians, the truth is what is proclaimed in the Bible. Everyone who is a Christian needs to know and understand the truth that it contains, as it effects the way each of us lives our lives. From the way we interact with family and friends, to the way we operate at work. The way we worship, and more especially what comes out of our mouths as we teach and tell others of Christ.

It is my hope that through this blog, we will together learn to know the Truth and to apply it into our daily lives.

Purpose: The purpose of this blog is to discuss the many issues that are affecting the church today that is causing it to hide the truth. There are both internal and external forces at work here. Things that to some seem to be nothing to worry about, but are in actual fact damaging the witness of the church. Here we will deal with issues like the professional church, politics in church, true discipleship, does God still speak to us today, etc.

Check back here in a couple of days for our first topic, “True vs False Conversion”.

Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
Gw